Avatar Book 4: Hellfire
by MadDoggyClown
Summary: A waterbending girl living in the Fire Nation, is actually Prince Zuko's best friend. But one night she's kidnapped by waterbenders and taken to the Earth Kingdom. What'll happen when Zuko and Hua cross paths once again? Lost parts of the series Zuko/OC
1. A Tale of Two Friends

**I've wanted to write an Avatar fanfic for a long while, just had to make sure how the story should find place n_n;**

**This first chapter is all a flashback, therefore the _'italic'_ writing.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own either Avatar The Last Airbender or Zuko, the only things I own is Hua and this fanfic x3**

**Enjoy! R&R please!**

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"_Try and catch me Zuko!" a young girl said as she giggling ran away from the firelord's son._

"_Wait for me Hua!" the boy said as he ran after the girl, but as he ran past the fountain a large water-pillar slid out of the fountain and soaked the young prince._

_Zuko coughed and looked at the girl, as if he was very annoyed, she girl gasped as he then came running after her._

"_Now I'm gonna catch you!" he laughed as he ran after her, while the water dripped from his clothes._

_The girl, Hua, screamed and started running, but Zuko was too fast for her and grabbed her by her wrist. Though she kept on running and happened to pull Zuko over so he tripped and fell down on her._

"_Ouch Zuko, you're heavy" she chuckled, but the prince kept on laying on her, making sure she wouldn't run away again._

"_But that's your punishment for running away from me" Zuko answered as he held on to Hua's wrists so she wouldn't be able to struggle much._

"_Kids, what are you- Zuko! Why's your clothes all wet?" a kind but worried woman-voice asked the kids._

"_Oh hi mom, um.. Hua had an accident" Zuko joked, looking up at the firelady._

"_Hey!" the girl beneath Zuko protested._

_This made the firelady chuckle "Okay I see but be careful with your bending-skills young Hua" firelady Ursa winked in a kind manner to Hua._

_Hua almost blushed and smiled up at the firelady and nodded "I will"._

_Firelady Ursa smiled at the children and walked back inside, leaving her son and his friend alone in the castle's big garden._

_Hua managed to crawl away under Zuko and get up, Zuko looked up at his friend with a smile, she was his only real friend and a waterbender as well. She had been rescued by the Fire Nation as 3 years old, the soldiers found her outside the city's walls abandoned by her parents. She never had a bending-teacher, but she had managed to learn waterbending by instinct._

_Back then Ursa had begged her husband, firelord Ozai to let the girl stay. He had accepted, but under certain circumstances, he had said. She had to be his children's playmate, if she wanted or not, she would be their slave and never question their decisions by any costs. And as she would grow older she would become their personal maid and slave._

_It has been 5 years since Hua was brought to the palace, her name had been written on a little note tagged to the cloth she was wrapped in. She was a very special girl Ursa said, and she mostly treated her as her own child as well as Zuko and his sister Azula, but it seemed like Azula was jealous of the waterbending girl. Though some other things was special about her; she had been born with some sort of blue marks or tattoos on her face, they covered both of her cheeks and met on her chin. The whole mark looked like a blue butterfly sitting on the girl's face._

_No one was able to say what those marks meant, some of the firelord's priests said they were demon marks, a curse from the spirits. That was just a stupid rumour they've come up with because they didn't like the cheerful little girl._

"_Oh yeah I have a present for you Hua, here" Zuko handed her a piece of darkred cloth, Hua's eyes widened with amusement when she pulled the cloth away, under it was lying a beautiful red and golden necklace._

"_Is that really for me?" she asked him with a big smile on her face, Zuko smiled back and nodded._

"_Thank you so much Zuko!" she said._

"_Let me help you put it on, turn around" Zuko asked her as he held the necklace in his hands. Hua did as he said and turned around for him to put her necklace on for her, she held her hair to the side gaining Zuko space to lock the necklace._

"_It's beautiful Zuko, I'm very grateful for it" Hua said in a gentle voice._

_Zuko noticed Hua's hair had grown much longer lately, it reached down on the middle of her back in a pretty pigtail, which his mother had done for her. Hua had been very grateful to almost being adopted by firelady Ursa, but the firelord seemed unpleased at this, just as much as everyone else in the palace._

_Zuko on the other hand liked the thought of being siblings to Hua, he loved her as much as a brother would love his sister, he even loved her more than his real sister Azula, since she was a mean little girl always mocking Zuko and Hua as they were playing._

"_Look who's being all lovey-dovey in the garden" a girlish and annoying voice said, talk about the devil and she'll appear, Azula stepped forward from her hidingspot, were she had been watching the two friends for quite a while, she gave Hua an evil glare._

"_We aren't lovey-dovey Azula, we were just playing!" Zuko protested in anger._

"_Whatever you say Zuzu, just remember she's just a stupid little water-girl with no common sense" Azula grinned and walked over to her minion-friends Mai and Ty Lee._

_This made Hua sad, true she didn't know much about all the Fire Nation traditions, how to act towards all the generals or all that etiquette that the royal family respected, Azula saw her as a barbarian and so did everyone else but firelady Ursa and her son Zuko._

_Zuko took Hua's hand in his and smiled at her, he didn't want her to break down because of his coldhearted sister._

"_Don't worry Hua, she didn't mean what she said and by the way I like exactly the way you are" Zuko smiled at her, which made Hua cheer up right away and she gave the prince a tight friendly hug._

"_Thank you Zuko" she whispered._

_Those were the last words the children exchanged, because that night somebody managed to break into the Fire Nation's castle. They were as silent as ninjas, they handled to get into Hua's room and steal her with them._

_Of course the girl woke up right away and started screaming as the group of people ran down the long hall. Hua's screaming caused everyone in the castle to wake up, the Firelord and the Firelady hurried out of their rooms and just happened to see the kidnappers and the poor girl. The men were waterbenders as well, they must have known that the Fire Nation had a waterbending girl in their castle and wanted to free her, guess they thought she was their prisoner._

_Hua screamed and cried as the waterbenders kept running, the man who held her tried to cover her mouth but she quickly bit his hand._

_Zuko ran out from his room as well just in time to look into his friend's eyes for the last time. Zuko's eyes widened and got filled with both anger and sadness._

"_Guards! We have to save Hua!" he then yelled and looked around for the guards to come to his friend's rescue._

_Zuko didn't get any sleep that night; the guards had followed the waterbenders, on the Firelady's order though, the guards had gotten strict instructions not to take orders from the Firelord's children._

_Zuko had overhead a talk between his parents and a general, he remembered it word for word._

"_We followed the waterbenders all the way to the Earth Kingdom, we also managed to kill them off, but the girl was nowhere to be seen" the general spoke._

_Then Zuko heard his mother's crying and his father's hard voice started speaking again._

"_Fine, though you did more than you should have done keep it at that, we'll make up that the girl was taken back to the Water Tribes" his father said._

_The next day that was the news Zuko got, he didn't complain though he knew they were lying to him, and he could feel that the lies was breaking his mother's heart as well._

_Azula on the other hand was more than happy to know that the waterbending girl was gone for good._

_But Zuko couldn't believe what they were telling him or what he had heard; Hua couldn't be dead!

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**Okay, no more flashback! I get tired of the _'italic' _writing . *sigh* Well here's the start, Zuko lost his childhood friend, but did he loose her for good? Of course not, if he did there wouldn't be a story to tell :b**


	2. Tiankong of The Earth Kingdom

**Okay already up with a new chapter, I just wanted to do so since I couldn't wait myself xD;**

**Enjoy, R&R please.

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"Whoa!" Zuko immediately woke from his sleep; he looked around his room on the Fire Nation ship.

"What's wrong Prince Zuko?" Iroh looked inside his nephew's room with a bit concern in his eyes.

Zuko just sighed and rubbed his forehead "Nothing, just a nightmare" he murmured and laid down once again realizing it was still too early to wake up.

Iroh then nodded "I'll be upstairs" he said and walked out of Zuko's room again.

Zuko sighed and laid on his stomach, he gently touched his scar while sighing "why did I dream about... her?" he whispered.

In the meantime in a small city in the Earth Kingdom, people have just started to awake and get ready for work.

In a small apartment a young girl was preparing for her own work as well. She looked herself in the mirror; the girl had grown so much being able to tie her own long pigtail. She gazed at her blue marks on her cheeks and sighed. Sometimes she wished they would just go away; strangers in the city often questioned her for the marks. She didn't want anything to do with strangers and especially not from the Water Tribe.

She decided to put on some lipstick to move all the attention from her cheeks to the rest of her face. Her eyes had a beautiful light brown colour, which made lots of the young men in her city to look at her for a second time.

Then she stood up ready to leave but she stopped herself in her movement.

"I almost forgot" she said to herself as she put on a lovely red and golden necklace, once given to her from the Fire Nation's Prince.

She smiled at her reflection and walked out on the streets greeting some elders who walked past her house.

Hua liked her life in the Earth Kingdom, her city was called _'Tiankong'_, meaning _'sky', _and somehow it was true the city was built out of a mountain, and the villagers felt like they were flying above everything else, like being in the sky.

Hua wore the traditional Earth Kingdom colour; green, but blue as well since she was originally a Waterbender. Her top was green and her pants blue, as she walked down the street she tightened her yellow belt around her stomach; it resembled a kimono belt.

Hua walked slowly, her legs were sore after the last attack from the Fire Nation, she had been burnt really badly and it made her work harder and her legs hurt terribly much, but she felt she needed to help all these earthbenders. There were so many she was grateful for; they've given her food, taught her how to read and write, given her clothes and a home.

She wanted to pay them back and had put it as her job to help out the villagers with any of their needs; like watering their garden, helping the fishers, bathing the kids. Anything that had to do with water, but the villagers were kind as well, they gave her money for her hard work and made sure not to make her do too hard jobs, because of her hurt legs.

She had covered the burning marks with bandages, and she had to be careful when she worked.

Though the villagers had told her to take a break she insisted to keep up her work, she was in fact the one who stood up against the Fire Nation army when they attacked her.

Everyone in the city knew Hua, for the first time in her life she was happy around people who were happy with her. She couldn't think of anyone not liking her.

Sometimes it felt lonely even though she had a lot of friends, and she longed for her old life in the Fire Nation.

"Hua! I need your help sweetie" an old lady called for her, standing with an empty bucket in her hands.

Hua smiled and walked over to the lady, she bowed in respect "You want me to fetch water for you ma'am?" she asked.

"That's right dear" she smiled and gently handed the bucket to Hua "I hope it's not too much for you to handle?" Hua knew she talked about her legs but she just smiled.

"Not at all, I can take care of this don't you worry" she said and walked towards a well.

When she reached the well the suddenly dropped the bucket in front of her feet.

Her eyes widened as another Fire Nation army was on their way towards the village.

"It can't be" she whispered and walked backwards, then she turned around and ran down the streets again. It hurt her legs terribly but she had to keep going.

"Fire Nation! There's a Fire Nation army coming this way!" she yelled nervously, by the word 'fire' all the villagers looked up, already terrified to death.

Though the earthbenders were strong, they feared to stand up to the Fire Nation, that's exactly the same they did at the last attack. Therefore Hua was very respected by the villagers.

She fell to her knees when her legs couldn't bear her any longer, she gasped for air and tried to stand up again, it took time but she managed to stand up.

When she turned around she saw the army attack the village with all their might, they burned down buildings and scared all the people away.

Hua felt anger grow inside her body, this was worse than last time and she didn't want to let them do it once again.

She looked over to the well again and started breathing slower to relax, she made some handmoves and then the water automatically made its' way high up in the air, flushing over the village making the guards flood away. Luckily all the villagers of the city had escaped and weren't hurt.

The wave was strong and jerked all the guards wildly around.

Hua then let the water flood normally again and looked around for more guards who wanted their butt whooped. Then she saw a man walk towards her, he had a scar on his left eye, he wore the Fire Nation armour but something about him seemed familiar.

"What do you want here?" she asked in a threading voice, the houses around her plus her own house was burned down, Hua didn't make it in time to save them. The fire was way too fast for her water bending.

The man took off a helmet, Hua noticed his hair was tied in a long ponytail on top of his head; the rest of his skull was bald.

He walked closer towards her and he first stopped when there were only a few feet between them both.

Hua guessed he wasn't much older than she was, neither much taller than her. And even though something about him was familiar she sent him a mean glare.

He simply glared back at her. Hua looked him right in the eyes and almost felt like she was in a trance. She couldn't put her finger on how he reminded her of something, not even what the '_something_' was.

Then he gazed down on her necklace and his expression changed right away "where'd you get that?" he asked.

"I didn't steal it, if that's what you think!" Hua backed off holding carefully on to her necklace, it meant a lot to her "it was given to me from the Prince of the Fire Nation" she said.

Then the man's eyes widened "Hua?" he whispered.

"Who are you?" she asked now a bit puzzled.

"It's me, you know the Prince. It's Zuko" he said and for a moment Hua saw a kind smile on his lips, but then she grew angry.

"How dare _you _destroy my village!" she yelled and slapped his cheek.

He backed off immediately "how dare _I? _What about you? Why didn't you come back to the Fire Nation!" he yelled back.

"Oh you don't think I tried?" Hua asked him, she felt tears in her eyes and her voice cracked "every day I thought of you but when the armies came to this city I couldn't leave! But these people who _used _to live here treated me kindly and I was glad to be here _until now!"_ she tried to wipe her tears away but with no luck.

Zuko stood like frozen, he didn't know what to say at all, but then placed a hand on her shoulder "then come with me" he offered.

"No, leave me alone" Hua pushed him away from her.

This made the Fire-Prince annoyed right away "Fine! Suit yourself! I just wanted to help you!"

"Help me?" she almost laughed "You let your army destroy my village; I don't need help from you!"

Zuko got even more annoyed, he hated when people talked back at him which made him lose his temper quickly. Though he hadn't been like that when they were kids, it had come with his scar.

Zuko took a quick decision and pulled her closer again, he held her wrist tightly "You're coming with me!" he said threading, although he didn't mean it he wanted to make sure that she followed him no matter what "As a prisoner!" he added.

"What!"

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**I think I might as well make Zuko a bit more pervert-minded, well depends on what you guys thinks :b**


	3. The Prince's Prisoner

**Yush! I've updated :3 Drinks on me.. uhh, no. But I'm back guys! :D**

**Well, Zuko's angry.. Duh! No he's truly happy to see Hua again, he's just not showing, 'cause there's an Avatar he needs to capture.**

**Yup, I'm gonna go through all three books! If you haven't figured yet xD**

**We also meet Iroh again, I hope you remember how he speaks, 'cause I tried to describe it in this chapter, y'know his carefree way of speaking, also a tad slower than normal people - you know what I mean :b**

**I'm already preparing for future chapters, so don't fret, I'm already thinking of your needs ;P**

**I'll try to update more in the future, though no promises I'll do my best!**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

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The guards had come up to the Prince's side, he pointed at Hua who was still standing with an angry look plastered on her face. She struggled madly when the guards pulled her with them, they had her hands chained together, on her front though, and even made fireballs in their hands, for thread, if she would try to run off, or even use waterbending for that matter.

Hua followed the guards slowly, due to her aching legs; they were walking behind, next to and in front of her. She felt hot as the fireballs kept burning in the guards' palms, being very close to her. She felt like a plant that hadn't got any water for days; all dried up.

In front of the guards walked Prince Zuko, Hua's once best friend, but he had certainly changed with time. How dared he? Not only did he destroy her village, but he also wanted her to come with him! And when she didn't want, _he _was the one who got angry!

She glared at him, or the back of his head, as they kept walking. She was pushed forward from time to time by the guard behind her, when he found her walking way too slow.

The next time he pushed her, she fell forward, and not being able to supply her fall with her hands tied up, she fell right with her face down in the dirt.

She coughed as the dust was whirling around her after her fall; the guards stopped and looked down at her.

"Get up you filthy water-wench!" one of them threaded and kicked her.

Hua whined when he did so, he just hit her right on her sore legs. Zuko heard her complains and quickly turned around, grabbing the guard around the neck looking angrily at him.

"Don't you dare hurt her again" he sneered threatening.

"B-but she's just a prisoner" another guard spoke, as the guard Zuko was holding had turned speechless.

"I don't care! She's _my _prisoner and I hadn't given you the permission to hurt her!" he roared at the guards.

Hua had just managed to sit up, she gently stroke her burned legs with her palm, the best she could, trying to make the pain go away. She still felt upset with Zuko, but after he had just defended her, her anger lowered a bit. For now.

Zuko turned to his friend and offered her his hand "here" he said.

She slowly turned her gaze to him, looking into his yellowish eyes. Truly she had longed for their warmth, though they seemed different in some way. There was still somewhat warmth, but also something else. Which Hua wasn't sure of, what could be.

But she took his hand and let him help her to her feet. She complained lowly as she stood up again, biting her lower lip.

Luckily for her, there wasn't a very long way towards the ship, they quickly got aboard again. Hua looked around; there was Fire Nation guards everywhere. Big. Threatening and disgusting. Just as she remembered them.

"Come" Zuko said and guided Hua through a door; they walked down a long hall together. None of them spoke. Either way they didn't dare. Or they waited for the other one to make the first move.

When they finally had gained strength to speak, Iroh, Zuko's uncle showed up from inside a room, before none of them had said a word. He looked surprised at both of them.

"Prince Zuko, you're back early" he started, and then he looked at Hua "and who's the young maid?" he smiled at his nephew.

"She's Hua. My prisoner" Zuko simply said.

"By already knowing her first name, I'd say she's more than _just _a prisoner" Iroh said puzzled, scratching his beard with a slight smile.

"It's nice to see you again, Iroh" Hua said politely and bowed for the older man, she remembered him from when she was a kid, she usually saw General Iroh at the Fire Nation castle, whenever he was about to enter the firelord's throne room or just visiting the royal family.

Iroh stared at the girl for a while until he finally smiled.

"Why, isn't that little Hua!" he said with a large grin and gave her a big hug.

Hua couldn't help but smile at the old man's compassion and felt comfortable by his tight hug.

"You've certainly grown a lot by the years, isn't that right Zuko?" Iroh said as he itched at his nephew's arm with his elbow.

"Wh-what?" Zuko said, rubbing his arm, but Hua manage to catch the Prince blushing by his uncle's comment.

"But why are you wearing handcuffs? Zuko, that's no way to treat a lady, especially not one you haven't seen for so many years" Iroh said in his normal surprised, yet still at-ease, way of speaking, while he raised his finger in a wise manner.

"As I said; she's my prisoner" Zuko said "I met her at the Earth Kingdom, just a small village though."

"It was still a village" Hua reminded him, now getting a bit angrier again, by being reminded of why she was here again.

Iroh sighed in frustration and hit his nephew on the forehead, as a master to his pupil.

"Zuko, you don't destroy an entire village just to get the girl. Though I'd say that's some way to get a girl's attention still" he then smiled and once again scratched his beard.

Uncle" Zuko hissed.

Hua sighed at the two of them, it was so clear that they were family. For a while Hua actually wished for Iroh to have been Zuko's actual father, than just his father-figure.

It was a long time ago, but she still remembered slightly how the firelord used to be.

He had been a mighty man and not really friendly either. She hardly saw him, but from what she had heard, from both Zuko and his sister he wasn't quite the father-type.

Hua noticed she had been thinking for quite a while, 'cause now Iroh and his nephew had started a new discussion.

"-At least give her a proper room!" Iroh complained on Hua's behalf.

"I can't let her have a normal room if she's a prisoner! Then what, I'll just let her walk around freely? She might use her waterbending against us!" Zuko yelled back at his uncle.

"I don't need a room, as the Prince said; I'm a prisoner, not a guest. I'm neither wanted nor invited, just a prisoner" Hua interfered, wishing for the two men to stop fighting already. They were worse than anyone she'd ever heard arguing.

Zuko on the other hand felt his body tighten when he heard his friend use the phrase _'Prince' _towards him, than his actual name, they were after all childhood friends.

Iroh sighed and then nodded "Okay then, but I'll make sure you'll get something nice to eat. Not the same ratfood the normal prisoners get" he said with a smile.

Hua nodded as a thank-you and then she followed Zuko further down the hall.

He locked her up in an empty cell; it was very simple, with a wooden bench as the only furniture. The fourth wall of the cell was pure iron bars. Hua guessed they would be impossible to break by any chance.

So she just settled down on the floor, in a corner right next to the bars. Zuko didn't leave just yet; he was still standing, gazing at the young woman.

"If you behave as I want to, I might want to reconsider my uncle's offer and give you, your own room. Right next to mine" he said with a slight grin on his face.

"No, thank you" Hua looked away from Zuko, she knew he would get annoyed right away though he didn't say anything, she heard his fists clench.

"Do as you want" Zuko growled, then left her to herself. Through a silence you could feel you could cut with a knife, Hua was sitting now all alone, not even a rat was in sight.

There she was. Wondering whether or not she would ever return to her, now former, home. Or would she return to the Fire Nation instead?

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**BTW, I'll later describe further of Hua's blue tattoos, and I'll make sure to get all the details (involving Zuko) into this story, if I'm forgetting something, do tell!**

**Though Book 1 haven't yet started, so wait a moment to tell me those things :b**

**I'm also very open for ideas and questions etc. Thank you :3**


	4. The Water Tribe & The Avatar

**Gosh! This chapter was reeeaally heavy and huuge to create x.X I feel faint by thinking of how long I spent on it, though I hope it didn't turn out too crappy, I found it hard to even end it, yet it had to be this long for future chapters. As I've said, I've based the story upon all 3 books of ATLA, so of course I need to write down all the episodes, for now only those involving Zuko, and some I've made up myself, for Hua and Zuko to become closer again.**

**And I promise there will be lovey-dovey (ALOT) in the future, just bear over with the giganormous chapter for now, I'm trying to do my best - also apologize if the dialog isn't exactly the same, I'm only human TwT**

**I'm still open for ideas and help though, thank you :3**

**This is were Book 1 starts..**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

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_Book 1 - Water_

It's been a rough night; Hua hadn't slept very well, not because of bad weather or anything. She had just never been at sea before, she never got anywhere near water, other than a puddle back home.

Swimming wasn't a problem, but the ship seemed to rock from one side to the other all the time, due to high waves.

Hua felt somewhat sick and was lying on the floor. She tried closing her eyes to get some rest, but not before she had closed her eyes, she heard footsteps walking towards her cell.

She sighed as she figured who the person might be and she quickly turned around, away from the bars and faced the wall instead.

"How was your night?" Zuko's non-concerned voice sounded behind her.

"What do you care?" she sneered.

Zuko's fists tensed a tad by her cocky backtalk but he remained calm, at least a bit.

"I thought you might want to see your _actual _home for once" Zuko then said, his voice seemed a bit more concerned this time.

This turned Hua's attention to Zuko right away; she got up from the floor and stood before him.

"What do you mean?" she said suspicious.

"We're at the South Pole in a short time, I thought you might want to see where you're originally from, your _true_ home" Zuko continued, looking into her darkbrown eyes.

Hua's eyes shone by this, she was still very angry with Zuko after what happened in The Earth Kingdom, but to think that he would do something like _that _for her, actually surprised her.

But she was quickly taken aback by the thought; "Wait, we'll be at the South Pole? How long did we sail in _one _night?" she asked surprised.

Zuko smirked by her confusion.

"I thought you might sleep badly, we've sailed quite fast the past 24 hours, to reach the South Pole in time" Zuko continued as he found out a key from his pocket.

"You want to let me out?" she asked, looking at the key.

"It's gonna be hard to show you your roots, if you're not out there yourself" he sighed and unlocked her cell, opening the door for her.

"Thanks, I suppose" she shrugged, though still wondering, and stepped out of the cell.

Zuko took ahold around her arm and pulled her with him, together they walked down the hall.

They only got halfway when Hua felt the cool fresh air approaching from upstairs; she felt something pull her closer to the scent like an old instinct.

All of a sudden she pulled out of Zuko's grip and rushed down the hall towards the stairs, Zuko just managed to see a longing look in her eyes as well as a tear or two. He couldn't help but smile a little and run after her, just in case.

Finally Hua got outside and the sight that met her was like a dream, everywhere she looked there was water and icebergs. The sky was bluer than ever here and then that fresh smell again.

She walked up to the front of the ship taking in the wonderful view by every single detail. She felt tears in her eyes and couldn't help but smile as well.

This, the South Pole, was her long lost home.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Zuko said as he approached her from behind.

"It really is" Hua said, almost whispering, she had to swallow a few times.

"But it is very cold" Iroh then complained from behind them, the two teenagers turned around noticing Iroh freezing, he was hugging himself tightly to get warmth in his body again, and then he sneezed loudly.

Hua couldn't help but giggle at the older man, when she looked at the scenery again her eyes widened.

"Penguin!" she pointed at the small bird walking around on the ground. Hua's smile enlarged even further and she couldn't help but jump up and down a bit.

Iroh and Zuko stared at the girl, as she suddenly tried to lean down the edge of the ship, to get closer to the penguin.

"I want!" she demanded, starting to kick with her legs almost making her fall.

"Woah!" Zuko hurried to her side and pulled her up again "Be careful" he said with a sigh.

"But I want to touch the penguin; I've never seen one before" Hua said pouting.

"Prince Zuko, we can probably stop for just a moment, you haven't found your goal yet anyways" Iroh suggested.

Zuko sighed at his uncle and nodded "Fine, 5 minutes, then we continue" he ordered.

"Yes!" Hua cheered and then jumped off the ship in one quick leap.

Zuko and Iroh looked after her in surprise and rushed to the edge of the ship.

"What're you waiting for?" Hua stood on a huge ice-block right next to the ship, while waving up and Zuko and Iroh.

Zuko sighed a bit in frustration at the girl, but Iroh crossed his arms and smiled knowingly.

"You got to admit my nephew; that girl is full of energy, just as she used to as a child" he said and scratched his beard.

Zuko did not answer his uncle, but kept looking down at Hua, not sure if he should smile at her or scold her instead.

Not that it mattered actually, 'cause Hua was already rushing towards the penguin which was trying to get away from her.

"Wait for me Mr. Penguin!" she ordered, still following the poor penguin.

"She's just an airhead" Zuko finally said as he turned his back at the girl as well as the scenario.

"Oh, Prince Zuko, I am sure you don't mean it" Iroh smiled and looked after his nephew.

Then a scream was heard from Hua's spot, which made Zuko leap from the ship and run towards the noise, Hua had disappeared behind an ice-boulder and he had to hurry.

Though what met his sight was quite disappointing, Hua hadn't been in danger, she had apparently just screamed when she captured a penguin. She was now standing with the animal in her arms, while a lot of other penguins walked around her. The penguin in her arms was trying with all its might to get out of her grip.

"I got you" she laughed.

Zuko clenched his fists in anger of the so-called false alarm and rushed towards her, with heavy steps, which made the penguins jump into the water in fright of the Fire Nation Prince. Even the penguin Hua was holding managed to jump out of her arms, and down into the freezing water.

"Playtime's over" Zuko said in an annoyed voice and pulled her with him, his grip tightened quickly; making sure she wouldn't run away again.

"Ouch! Zuko you're hurting me!" she winced and tried to push him away.

"I don't care!" he shouted and finally got back to the ship again.

Hua felt irritated by the anger of the prince and crossed her arms, to show off her frustration, when they got on the ship again.

"We'll sail further!" Zuko ordered his guards, before turning to Hua again.

He went all the way up to her, only standing a few inches away from her, and stared at her in annoyance.

"Don't _ever _scream for no use" he said in a threatening voice.

"Fine, then don't destroy villages _for no use_" Hua spat and clenched her hands in anger, reminding Zuko of what his guards had done to her village earlier.

It made him grow silent, then he growled in a low voice and walked away from her.

Hua was left alone, looking after her once best friend, it was without a doubt that he had changed in the past years, she sighed and looked at her feed.

"Don't be sad, Hua" Iroh said as he approached her "My nephew has many things on his mind lately, he wants to capture The Avatar."

"Huh?" Hua gave the general a sceptical look "Um, does he realize The Avatar disappeared 100 years ago?"

"He knows that. But it is the only way he can return to his kingdom, for two years now; Zuko has been on the sea, practicing his firebending while in deep search after The Avatar" Iroh continued.

"Wait? Why can't he return to the Fire Nation?"

"His father, Firelord Ozai had him banished, two years ago" Iroh sighed, his voice grew sad.

Hua figured he did not want to continue for now, and let it slip for now. Later she was escorted downstairs together with Iroh, to get something to eat; Hua noticed Zuko was still on deck, looking through a pair of binoculars.

She figured this meant a lot to him, but how would he find someone who had disappeared a lifetime ago?

She did not quite understand it, neither his motive but she didn't want to ask either. She didn't want to show concern towards Zuko. He got angry for no reason, so why even _try_ speaking with him?

Hua hardly touched her food, too many things were on her mind now, Iroh on the other hand had a great appetite, and didn't seem to think of problems. Or anything else, at the moment.

Suddenly the ship crashed into something, Hua almost fell backwards in surprise, though she felt the ship continue anyways.

"What was that?" she yelled in surprise.

Iroh looked up and out through a window "We're probably there already" he said.

"There?" Hua wondered and got up from her seat, she remembered Zuko never told her why exactly they were going to the South Pole all of a sudden. It couldn't only be because he wanted to show it to Hua, which would've been a way too long journey. Did he think The Avatar might be there?

She decided to go up and look, since she figured something was about to happen. When she got up, she saw a small village right in front of the ship; the houses were made out of snow and ice. There weren't many villagers though, maybe 10 women, a young girl, some kids and a boy.

The boy got her attention right away, he was painted in the face and seemed like he was about to enter a fight, then she noticed a door open on the ship's front, and some of the Fire Navy guards got out, as well as Zuko.

She decided to sneak closer to the edge of the ship to get a better view; she looked down at the people as Zuko was approaching them. He wore his helmet, and looked as threatening as he had done it, when he destroyed _her_ village.

It was impossible to hear what they were saying this far away, but suddenly she saw the boy throw a weapon at Zuko, a boomerang. Though he avoided it pretty easy, then he started speaking again, and in no time; the boy took action again and ran towards Zuko with a spear in his hands.

Hua looked at them as if a great fight was ready to happen, but of course Zuko would be too fast, he kicked the knife off of the spear, then pulled it out of the boy's hands and punched him on the forehead a few times, making him fall backwards. Hua sighed in frustration, she would've loved to see Zuko get his butt whooped by a Water Tribe-boy.

But to Hua's pleasure, there was still the boomerang the boy had thrown, and of course it was coming back by now, hitting Zuko right on the back of his head with a clack. She couldn't help but snicker at that, he looked so funny when he was pissed.

But to Zuko this was nothing like _fun_, he was deadserious in his business, but right before he was able to attack the boy something rushed up from behind Zuko and knocked him over, making him glide all the way over to his guards. He had landed on his head; his helmet had fallen off and landed now on his butt.

Hua couldn't hold the tears back as this was just way too funny, Zuko got quite humiliated down there, she wished it had been her to knock him over, but the person she saw was a little bald boy, with a blue arrow-tattoo on his head.

She noticed it had the same colour as her face-tattoo, and couldn't help but touch it. For a moment Zuko and the bald boy was fighting, Zuko using his firebending and the bald boy used... Airbending!

Hua couldn't believe her eyes, he was an airbender? But they were supposed to have died 100 years ago. Who was this boy? And what business did he have with Zuko?

The fight ended quickly though, and Hua thought she could make out some of the words they were sharing down there, something with Avatar and stuff like that. Could _that kid _be the Avatar?

_No, that's not possible! The Avatar would be more than 100-years-old if he was even alive!_

Then Hua saw Zuko and his guards guide the bald boy aboard the ship, leaving the poor villagers to a now half-burned-down village. Hua's expression changed from puzzled, to angry.

Zuko would stop at nothing to capture The Avatar.

"Zuko! Explain yourself!" she demanded as Zuko went past her, still holding on to the boy. The little boy seemed surprised to see Hua, a woman on a warship.

"Explain myself? To you! Why?" he looked at her sceptically.

"Have you already forgotten you just burned down _another_ village!" Hua shouted.

"It makes no difference now, 'cause now I have The Avatar" Zuko explained and shoved the boy towards Hua.

Hua looked down at the boy, who then gave her the biggest and most innocent eyes he could muster.

"Are you kidding? He's just a boy?" Hua looked at Zuko with a heavy sigh.

"But he _is _The Avatar!"

"It's actually true" the boy spoke.

Hua then looked at him again; he was smiling compared to the situation he was now in.

"I'm Aang" he said and bowed at Hua.

"Um, hi" she said a bit puzzled.

"Do not talk to her" Zuko said in a threatening voice and pulled the boy away from Hua again "Take him to the prison-cells!" he ordered some guards, who nodded and shoved the boy with them.

Hua stood still for a minute, looking after the poor boy who was now also a prisoner of Zuko's.

"You're a crazy person, Zuko" Hua said and looked at the Prince, he glared at her with a look that said 'shut your mouth'.

Zuko then went downstairs as well, leaving Hua all alone on the deck.

"He's too much" she grumbled in anger and went downstairs at last.

She walked towards Zuko's room, wanting to speak with the Prince, not to mention wanting a damn good explanation for all this.

But as she was about to approach his room, she saw the little bald boy, Aang, dash out of there as fast as the wind, literally. And Hua quickly pressed herself towards the wall to make room for the boy, truly not wanting Zuko to hold him hostage.

But when she looked inside the room, Zuko was lying on a mattress on the middle of the floor, looking like he had just been punched _really _hard in the gut.

Then he got up from the mattress and hurried out of the room, when he went past her, he gave her an evil glare and then ran upstairs again.

She figured the little Avatar was way too quick and sly for the Fire Nation Prince, if he had already run off, being kidnapped only 2 minutes ago.

Not wanting to miss something she decided to run outside again, looking around for the boy. And Zuko.

But before noticing them, she noticed a huge iceberg right in front of them. She gasped in surprise and started running down to the end of the ship, not wanting to get hurt if they hit the iceberg.

A huge crash sounded right behind her and then the ship stopped very quickly, Hua fell forward by the sudden stop and was now lying on her stomach.

She just managed to see a huge flying animal above the ship, it looked like a bison or something, but she couldn't make it out for sure.

On the other hand, when she looked back at the ship's front, it was covered in heavy snow and probably loads of ice as well.

Zuko and Iroh was now standing in front of the snow, Zuko not very happy and Iroh really puzzled.

Hua sighed and turned around, lying on her back as if she couldn't get up again. What in the World was happening to her life suddenly?

She sighed and closed her eyes in frustration.

"Oh man."


	5. Agni Kai

**I'm on the road with this series at the time, I don't think I'm able to stop myself until I've completed book 1, yet I'll try to hold back just a bit nwn;**

**You might recognize this episode as 'The Southern Air Temple', when Iroh and Zuko (and Hua, lol) meets Commander Zhao and he participates in an Agni Kai against Zuko.**

**That's all I'm gonna tell you xD Tell me if there's something I'm missing or if you have ideas! I HEART ideas from my reviewers! Ö**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

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The Avatar had dealt alot of damage towards Zuko's ship, the front had been more or less destroyed, and they were lucky to actually still be able to sail, yet they had to find land soon to get their ship fixed.

That's when the Prince and his uncle stumbled upon an old friend, or more likely foe. Commander Zhao from the Fire Nation.

"What did that to your ship?" Zhao asked when he saw the damage.

"That's a very interesting question" Zuko began, not knowing what to answer the Commander.

"Uncle, tell Commander Zhao what happened" he then said and more likely threw the ball at Iroh.

Iroh was surprised by his nephew's command and had to think fast.

"Yes, I will do that. It was incredible-" he started but quickly stopped again, leaning closer to Zuko.

"What? Did we crash or something?" he whispered.

"Yes. Right into... an Earth Kingdom ship" Zuko made up, though seeming a bit nervous.

"Really? You must regal me with all the thrilling details" Zhao ordered, though not seeming convinced by the story "Join me for a drink" he said and leaned closer to the prince.

"Sorry, but we have to go" Zuko said and walked round Zhao, but was quickly stopped by Iroh who grabbed his shoulder.

"Prince Zuko, show Commander Zhao your respect" Iroh ordered and turned to Zhao "We would be honoured to join you. Do you have any Jing-Sang tea? It's my favourite" Iroh then asked as he went unboard Zhao's ship.

Zuko on the other hand seemed very displeased by his uncle's decision on his behalf. He clenched his fists and made small fireballs in his palms, though making them disappear quickly again to take Hua's hand, and pulled her with him, still not confident at letting her alone on the ship; especially not when both he and Iroh was gone.

"Who's that girl?" Zhao asked as he noticed Hua get up on deck.

"She's none of your business, Zhao" Zuko said in his usual angry voice.

Yet Commander Zhao didn't care, he saw right away that the girl was a waterbender and had her imprisoned in a room alone. Zhao acted as if he despised the girl but he found her somewhat attractive in a way.

It's already been an hour since Zuko and Iroh was being invited inside to get some tea, also for Hua to be imprisoned. She remembered Zhao saying it was only temporarily, yet it felt like forever already.

Then she heard a noise at the door but to her dismay it was the stupid commander walking towards her.

"Tell me girl, do you know anything about the Avatar?" Zhao asked her in his low voice.

Hua snorted non-chalantly and looked away "How stupid do you think I am, Monkeyface? Everyone knows the Avatar" she mocked.

Zhao looked at her in annoyance and grabbed ahold around her collar, shoving her closer to him.

"You _know_ where he is, don't you girl! You've seen him. Listen carefully; I might not let you live, that is if you do not tell me where the Avatar is to be found. If you do that I might reconsider your imprisonment. I might even be so kind-hearted to let you marry me – becoming a powerful young woman, what do you say?"

Hua was disgusted by the older man, he was about middle-age and she was really not into men looking like monkeys.

"Ew! No thank you!" she managed to wring out of his grip, but fell to the ground.

"Do as you wish; but might I point your friends ain't going nowhere yet. I can imprison them if I want to, as well. Even for lifetime" he said with an evil laugh.

Hua looked after the commander and shivered by him being that close to her, then she wondered about what he just said. Would he really be able to detain Zuko and Iroh? If so, did he really intend to?

She sighed and looked at the ground, did _her_ journey already end? Even though it was unwanted, she had started to like being on the road. Or maybe rather on the ocean. Still it felt refreshing and kind of relaxing.

She didn't know for how long she'd been there already, but she started to feel sleepy and within short time she dozed off. Yet her sleep did not last long, at least it didn't feel long, she was roughly awaken by one of commander Zhao's guards who pulled her to her feet.

"Hey! What's happening?" she demanded looking around puzzled.

"The Prince and The Commander are about to battle. An Agni Kai. The Prince demanded you to watch him" the guard spoke and pushed her outside, walking towards a battle-arena.

Hua almost stumbled outside on the arena, she felt surprised that Zuko had requested her presence, even more surprised when she saw the Prince kneeling; almost in front of her, shirtless. Behind him was Zhao, also shirtless and in the same position.

"Remember your firebending basics Prince Zuko, they are your greatest weapons" Iroh told his nephew, while standing next to him, he seemed to serious, which was surprising, since Hua never saw the man being serious.

"I refuse to let him win" Zuko said in a calm voice.

He quickly gazed at Hua before standing and turning towards the commander. Hua stood up next to Iroh, and they both walked away from the arena, watching from the sideline.

"Iroh, what's happening?" Hua asked him as they settled down.

"Prince Zuko challenged Commander Zhao to an Agni Kai. A fire duel" Iroh explained.

"A fire duel?" Hua seemed puzzled and looked towards the two men preparing for battle.

"They're only allowed to use their fire-bending in this battle, no direct contact or psychical damage is allowed" Iroh continued.

Hua seemed to understand yet she was quite worried of what might happen.

"Why are they even fighting?"Hua then asked again.

"It is all about respect. And honour, young Hua. Zuko feels threatened about the Commander's harsh treatment" Iroh explained. Hua felt Zuko's anger and wished for him to win this battle.

Then a guard hit a giant gong, which made an awfully loud noise when hit and then fire duel could begin.

The two men stared angrily at each other; the first one to make a move was Zuko. He formed a fire ball in his hands and when he pointed it at Zhao in evolved into a huge fire blast. Hua could practically feel the heat from the flames, and she shivered by the feeling.

Yet Zhao easily moved out of its way, Zuko kept creating fire blasts but Zhao kept avoiding them with ease.

Zhao made sure to tire the Prince before even thinking of attacking; Zuko's next attack was sent straight at Zhao, but he managed to dodge it with his arms, and the fireball disappeared.

For a moment both firebenders seemed equally strong, but in almost no time it seemed Zhao had overcome Zuko.

Zuko had been tired out as Zhao planned it, Iroh and Hua was almost able to hear him gasping for air.

"Can he possibly win against the Commander?" Hua asked a bit nervous.

"Why? You're worried about him?" Iroh slightly smiled at her.

"Not at all, I just-" Hua said but didn't continue as she noticed Zuko regain his breath and his strength, he kicked out in the air creating a huge fire wave which he sent towards Zhao. It hit him but once again he was able to dodge it with his fists.

Zhao seemed like he could go on forever and Zuko became tired once again.

"Basics, Zuko! Break his root!" Iroh reminded him.

"Yeah! You can do it, Zuko!" Hua cheered as well, for the first time since she'd been kidnapped by the Water Tribe, saying his name.

This gave Zuko strength again; he now knew he had not only one, but two who cheered at him, who believed in him.

Though this time, Zhao finally used his firebending, it was a powerful blast that was sent right towards Zuko, but he managed to dodge it with his hands as well. But this wasn't all the Commander got, he kept firebending at Zuko, and Zuko couldn't do anything but keep dodging with his hands.

Then came what seemed as the final blow, this blast was the most powerful of all, he had broken Zuko's barrier; it sent him sliding along the ground, he was now lying on his back not able to get up again.

Hua gasped as she saw Zhao leap into the air towards Zuko, he landed right in front of the Prince, smirking evilly at him. He was just about to deal a last blow towards Zuko's face, and Hua thought she saw fear in the Prince's eyes, then in no time he made a move and kicked Zhao legs away under him, making the Commander fall, and Zuko regained his own balance.

Zuko then smirked evilly back at the Commander and started firebending from his feet, while stepping closer to Zhao.

This made Zhao back down almost losing his balance again, and finally Zuko dealt the _final blow_ towards Zhao, making him stumble backwards and fall to the ground.

Zuko hurried to his side and held his fist towards his face in a threatening manner.

"Do it!" Zhao ordered, knowing what Zuko wanted to do.

By the encouragement Zuko did; he firebended towards Zhao's face, yet he missed on purpose, making the fireball hit the ground right next to his head.

Zhao was stunned and looked at the Prince in annoyance.

"That's it? Your Father raised a coward" he said, in an almost mocking voice.

"Next time you get in my way; I promise, I won't hold back" Zuko finally said and turned his back at the Commander.

Hua was relieved that Zuko had won and she quickly walked to his side, wanting to approach him.

But right before she came up to him, she managed to see Zhao kick his leg towards Zuko, firebending from his foot.

"Zuko!" Hua shouted, afraid her childhood friend might actually get injured by this sudden back-attack.

Yet right before the fireball hit Zuko, his uncle Iroh stood right between the two, grabbing ahold of Zhao's foot making the fireball disappear instantly. Zuko then quickly turned around looking surprised by Zhao's disrespectful and cowardly move.

Iroh then pushed Zhao far away from the three of them, realizing the man was too dangerous to keep close.

Zuko felt furious by this and rushed towards the Commander, but Iroh quickly held him back.

"No, Prince Zuko! Do not taint your victory" Iroh warned him, and easily let go of his nephew as he calmed down.

Then Iroh turned to face Zhao; "So, this is how The Great Commander Zhao acts in defeat. Disgraceful" Iroh said sounding very disappointed.

Hua looked at the men and stepped up to Zuko's side, gently putting a hand on his shoulder; she looked at Zhao with a mean look, saying how lowly he had just been, by this dishonourable act.

Zuko noticed her look and his own gaze hardened even more at Zhao, yet he gently touched Hua's hand, which she had placed on his masculine shoulder.

"Even in exile, my nephew is more honourable than you" Iroh continued, his voice sounding angry at the Commander.

Zuko was stunned by this sudden affection from both his childhood friend and his uncle; he stared at his uncle with surprise in his eyes.

"Thanks again for the tea, it was delicious" Iroh finished and turned his back at Zhao, ready to leave this filthy place.

"Monkeyface!" Hua mocked also turning around, now holding around Zuko's arm, him following her and Iroh outside the battle arena.

"Did you really mean that, uncle?" Zuko asked, his voice sounding amused, when they got away from the place.

"Of course" Iroh started "I told you Jing-Sang tea is my favourite" he then said with a joking smile.

Both Zuko and Hua smiled at his answer; Zuko couldn't help but get a warm feeling in his stomach at the sudden compassion from his old friend. He had missed her so much that it almost felt sad, yet he was joyful, to have her close to him again.

As they went back to the ship Zuko couldn't help but feel bad about letting Hua sleep in the cell again this night, he stopped outside for a moment, letting his uncle enter before him.

"Hua" Zuko said in a unusual low voice.

She stopped and looked after him "Yes?" she then turned to him, wondering what he might say.

"I'll let you sleep in your own room this time" he finally said, slightly smiling at her.

"Thank you-" Hua smiled back at him "-Zuko" she added at last.

'_Who knows; having a girl aboard the ship might not be all bad, and since she's so good friends with Prince Zuko, she might actually be able to help him, become a better person.'_

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_**Who said that? o.o Nah I'm not saying xD**

**Though I can reveal the next episode will involve a certain female Avatar who lived 400 years ago :3**


	6. Avatar Kyoshi

***dies - more or less* Okay, I finished my journal/notes upon this entire story, yesterday. I saw the whole Book 1, and now I'm ready to write about.. 10-15 chapters or something, my notes fills 21 pages in Windows Word, so don't tell me I'm a lazy bum who can't work her butt in pieces sometimes.**

**You guys can already figure out which chapter this is, so I don't need to explain that much I suppose - it's Avatar Kyoshi! So no more spoilers for now!**

**If you have any ideas you might want that should appear in this fic, tell me, and I will consider it, if it of course fits the rest of my story though.**

**If this story gets too long I simply write a Part 2, which will include Book 2 Earth.**

**On the other hand, those 21 pages in Word, doesn't seem that hard to create - I'm only saying this 'cause I've finally wrote them and my fingers hurt like hell afterwards x.X**

**Enjoy, R&R please! (I appreciate 'favourite story/author', but I love reviews just as much, thank you :3)

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"I really don't see the reason why I have to come with you" Hua complained as her hands were being tied around Zuko's waist, they were both sitting on the back of a bull-rhino. Hua sat behind Zuko as he let the bull-rhino off the ship and onto a small island.

Since the travel from Zhao's camp, Zuko and Hua's relationship had become a bit tenser yet again. And it didn't help much when Iroh tried to stop the problems by suggesting a game of Pai-Sho or a cup of tea. Zuko was stubborn and Hua was headstrong, none of them wanted to listen to each other.

"I'm taking you with because I don't trust my uncle with you. I don't believe he's able to look after you, you might run off. Not that you would have anywhere to go anyways" Zuko said as the bull-rhino marched up from the beach.

Hua sighed in frustration, she was being pulled around by her former best friend and she had no idea where they were or what business they had here.

She looked around a bit puzzling, trying to make out the place; Zuko noticed her curiosity and decided it wouldn't make any difference if she knew.

"We're on Kyoshi Island, The Avatar is here somewhere" he said calmly.

That's when Hua's eyes widened.

"Kyoshi Island! You mean the island were Avatar Kyoshi once lived?" she sounded quite excited all of a sudden, which really surprised Zuko.

"Yeah? What of it?" he asked.

"I've read everything about Avatar Kyoshi, she was a great Avatar! I've been living in the Earth Kingdom remember? Avatar Kyoshi was an earthbender 400 years ago."

Zuko sighed of her "Don't get too excited too quickly" he told her, then without a warning he kicked the bull-rhino hard in its flank and it quickly ran towards the small village; Kyoshi Village.

Hua nearly screamed by the sudden and fast tempo, though she wasn't able to fall off; her hands tied around Zuko, she still clung to him. This actually made Zuko smile in a way.

Yet his smile disappeared quickly again, for he had business to deal with in Kyoshi Village. His guards were following him also riding bull-rhinos, the Avatar was in this village and in a few seconds he would be in Zuko's care. That was 'till these young women appeared, they jumped down from the roofs surrounding the bull-rhinos and knocked guards off their animals.

Hua noticed one of the girls with a tiara on her head, they shared looks for a short time, until Zuko also was knocked off of his bull-rhino, and Hua naturally was being knocked with him, her wrists still tied around Zuko.

He landed on right on top of her; she managed to hit her head onto the ground as well as being knocked out of air when Zuko landed on her.

Zuko stared down at his friend for a while, remembering how they used to push each other to the ground, while the other sat on top of him or her, back when they were kids and everything was still all fine and dandy.

"Get off of me!" Hua suddenly demanded and tried to shove Zuko off her, his body pressing against hers had made her uncomfortable as well as his staring gaze.

Zuko quickly untied her hands and jumped to his feet but as he did, he was surrounded by these fierce ladies who had just attacked them. They didn't look too happy to Zuko, but Hua's interest was in their uniforms; it was a long green dress and in their hands they held golden fans. They wore armor around their upper body as well as their arms. That's when Hua's gaze met the girl from before again, now she knew; they were dressed up as Avatar Kyoshi, those must've been the Kyoshi Warriors she'd been reading about.

They had the exact same uniform and even the face paint was exactly like Kyoshi's. She got to her feet but before she was able to speak a word, Zuko quickly shoved the girls away one by one; he scared them off with his firebending and mighty strength in battle.

Then he ran off, Hua was about to run after but stopped in the middle of the street to look around. And what met her gaze was terrible.

She didn't even notice how much damage Zuko's crew already had made towards the village; it was… **burning!** Just like they've done to her own village when Zuko had kidnapped her.

But what made Hua cry was the sight of the burning statue of Avatar Kyoshi; it has just been painted, probably in the honour of the new Avatar, but now it was burning to ashes.

She sank to her knees not wanting to believe what she was seeing. It was even worse than what they've done to her village, Kyoshi Village was about to burn to the ground.

That's when Hua noticed a small boy jump from one roof to another; she looked up at him and recognized him as the Avatar, the boy Zuko tried to capture on the South Pole. He looked back at her for a millisecond also seeming to remember her, but his gaze then turned forward again, seeming more serious by now. She quickly understood when she saw a furious Prince Zuko following him on the roofs.

Then the boy quickly stops and turns toward Zuko, Hua notices he's making some strange handmoves and within seconds, a great airstream is blown directly from his hands towards Zuko. The Prince is blown away and the next thing Hua hears is a bang. She runs father away, just to turn around and see Zuko being smashed towards another roof, by the Avatar's great airbending once again.

She can't really blame the boy right now, she feels the pain from all the villagers at once; their village is destroyed and so are their faith, and their great monument. Avatar Kyoshi.

And who is to thank! Prince Zuko, the young man Hua once called her best friend. She clenched her fists in anger, looking around for some water to stop some of the fire, not to mention to cool off Zuko.

She sighs in relief when she sees a well and quickly runs towards it. She stops in front of it and looks down in it, deeply hoping that it's still in use.

Good, it is. Hua then takes a deep breath, trying to relax. She starts moving her arms up and down in a calm manner, trying to pull the water up from the well.

The well is deep and it takes just a while, but finally the water escapes the well and Hua throws it at the burning houses and the statue of Kyoshi. She also manages to hit a few Fire Nation guards and even Zuko with the water.

Hua manages to see the Avatar and his friends flee on his giant sky-bison, she understands they cannot stay with Zuko around.

The fire is slowly subsiding, and the wooden buildings, as well as the statue, are saved. Somewhat, she figures the villagers still will have to work hard to rebuild their home.

For a short while Hua feels homesick and wonders what happened with her own village, the day Zuko destroyed it, drove the villagers away and kidnapped her.

"They're long gone" she calmly shakes her head, not even wanting to comfort herself right now. She feels a greater loss towards this village than towards her own home. She then walks towards the statue, it's all sooted black and half of Kyoshi's leg and stomach is missing from the fire.

She sees the opportunity to kneel in front of the statue and fold her hands, praying that Avatar Kyoshi just once would forgive Prince Zuko for what he had done.

Later when they're back on the sea, Hua refuses deeply to speak with Zuko, not even wanting to look at him. Instead she has settled down in the back of the ship, hiding away from the prince.

"Prince Zuko, what did you to her this time?" Iroh complains, the old man doesn't like seeing his favorite waterbender in such a sad mood.

"I didn't do anything uncle, she just keeps getting angry with me!" Zuko sneered.

"Perhaps it wasn't such a great idea to burn down an entire village which is greatly respected in The Earth Kingdom, were you friend apparently has been living for nearly a decade" Iroh suggested, his voice a tad annoyed, since Zuko should find it obvious that Hua is mad at him.

This made the Prince sigh, he realized there was a reason why Hua was crying, when they got back earlier. He scratched his neck trying to figure out a way to approach her without her getting angrier with him.

Then he looked at his uncle who was pointing his hand towards the young girl's hiding spot, demanding that Zuko made things clear with her.

Zuko sighed in irritation at his uncle but did as he was told; he slowly walked towards a barrel on the other side of the ship, which Hua had hidden behind.

When he removed it, he saw her; sitting against the wall, hugging her legs and just staring straight ahead, her gaze was cool and more or less angry.

A small crab had made its way on top of her head, feeling quite comfortable in her soft hair it had settled down; almost looking like it was asleep.

"Hey" Zuko said, his voice seeming strangely mild for a change.

"What do you want?" Hua's voice on the other hand was strangely bitter, and she looked away when Zuko sat down next to her.

"I just wanted to apologize" Zuko began, but was quickly interfered by Hua.

"For what? Destroying yet another village? It's the third one you've destroyed since I came along, but I figure you've destroyed a lot more, before you even met me again, isn't that right _Prince Zuko_?" Hua had turned her gaze directly at the defenseless Zuko, he saw tears in her eyes and couldn't really blame her, her outburst.

"Yes, I guess that's what you could say. But I still want to apologize; I didn't know how important that village was to you-"

"So what if you knew? You would've spared the villagers?"

"Hua, this mission is very important to me; I have to capture the Avatar"

"I don't care."

Zuko was about to give up, figuring she wouldn't accept his apology just like that, he started thinking of what to say to make her in a better mood.

"You know; you've changed a lot since when we were children" he began.

"What do you mean?" Hua asked confused as she rubbed the tears away from her eyes.

"You've become stronger and more mature, you protect people. I mean I saw how you used your waterbending to save Kyoshi Village, it was quite amazing" he said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.

"What do you mean? You're not angry I got in your way again?" now Hua was more bewildered than ever, she thought she saw Zuko smile at her.

"I-I mean; I just wish you could've done the same back then, waterbend just as powerful I mean. I wish you could've punched those waterbenders who tried to kidnap you, and that you wouldn't have been lost for so long" Zuko finally said, leaning against the wall, his slight smile disappearing. He almost felt sentimental by his own small speech.

Hua knew what he meant and slightly sat closer to Zuko.

"You know what? I do too. Every day I wished I could've gone back to that time, when I was a kid and I knew of no trouble or problems. When we were still playing around in the castle's garden" she admitted.

Zuko felt a bit surprised, yet relief to hear that she wished for the same. His slight smile came back on his lips and he gently took her hand in his.

"I miss the old times; when we could run away not caring for what people said or meant, when we were still friends. I miss you as a friend" he whispered, leaning his head closer towards Hua's.

"Yes. Me. Too" Hua felt the slight body heat coming from Zuko's hands, still holding hers. Even his face, though still not touching hers yet being very close, was warm as well. She figured it was because of his firebending skills, but for the first time in years, she didn't feel afraid of it.

Zuko had his eyes closed, yet Hua still looked upon him; guessing where this was heading and she placed her other hand on his chest, gently pushing him away.

"What's wrong?" Zuko asked, confused that she had just refused his kiss.

"It's not a good idea Zuko" she said, turning her head away from him.

Zuko felt his temper build inside him, he almost roared at Hua when he got to his feet.

"Fine! Do whatever you want, I don't care!" then he walked, with heavy steps, away from Hua.

Hua gazed after Zuko for a while a sighed, the crab which has been sitting on her head during the whole time, had crawled down on her shoulder.

She took it up in her hands and looked at it with a sigh.

"He's quite an idiot, huh?" she asked it, trying to find some sympathy.

The crab then opened and closed its claws a couple of times, looking up at Hua with its emotionless small eyes.

"Don't you take _his_ party!" she demanded, pointing at the crab.

It looked at her finger before squeezing it with one of its claws.

"Ouch" she pulled her finger away from the crab, and sat it on the ground.

"That's the thanks I get, after you've rested on my head for half an hour?"

She sighed as the crab walked off, sideways as crabs does.

"Guess this is going to be a disaster of a journey – once more."

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**OBS! No crabs were hurt after this chapter took place.**

**Next chapter will focus on some Earthbenders, my hating-subject Zhao and most definitely tons of injury and caring, and some of Iroh lame humour I think xb**

**Don't spoil anything for yourselves, by go and watch the episodes after you've read this, it's not funny -3- Or whatever, I somehow don't care, I :heart: spoilers myself x'D**

**'Till next time (veeeeeery soon *is already writing next ch.*)**


	7. Teamwork For a Change

**I had almost forgotten I wrote this chapter like.. yesterday or something? o.o**

**But here it is xD I'm letting out a few details in the dialogue at the start, sorry but my hands and my mind hurt so bad, my journal reads 28 pages in Windows Word o.o**

**Originally I wanted to name this chapter 'Earthbenders' or maybe 'Enter Earthbenders', but it somewhat seemed too plain; you'll realize the title once you've read the chapter I promise :)**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

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As they've come towards Earth Kingdom; Zuko and Iroh figured they had to go in land for a while, to see if the Avatar might be around.

Zuko and Hua hadn't spoken that much to each other since last time Zuko had gotten angry. And Iroh wasn't much help at all, at the moment he was just relaxing in a hot spring which he had warmed with his firebending.

Hua wasn't with them this time, for a change Zuko had let her stay back at the ship, though locked up in her prison-cell and guarded. Zuko had made it her punishment that every time she was disobedient or annoyed the heck out of him, she was being locked inside her cell until Zuko thought she had had enough, or he regretted his action, though he never apologized, Hua knew his pride didn't let him, and she didn't care.

Zuko stared at his uncle for a while; he was deeply relaxing in the hot spring which annoyed Zuko.

"We're closing in on the Avatar!" Zuko shouted at Iroh.

"You need to relax a bit, why not join me in the hot spring? I warmed it myself" Iroh said, sounding very calm.

"We don't have time for this, we need to leave! Now!" Zuko demanded in anger.

"Okay, since you insist" iroh said and stood up from the hot spring, not wearing anything at all, Zuko quickly covered his eyes.

"Ugh! On second thought why don't I just pick you up later?" he quickly suggested and walked off, though still seeming annoyed.

But as soon as he got underneath deck, he thought he heard a female voice, it sounded like a song. He found it strange that anyone would sing aboard his ship, when he got to the source, he discovered it would be Hua who had gotten really bored from doing nothing, and she had started singing which had made the guards fall asleep.

Zuko clenched his fists in anger and stepped forward, stopping right in front of the cell.

"Will you be quiet?" he said in annoyance.

Hua looked up at Zuko when she heard his voice, almost shocked at seeing him since she didn't even hear him enter. At least it made her be quiet.

"Why can't I sing? You weren't even here a moment ago, so why do you care?" she sighed.

"Now I am, besides it's my boat and I'm in charge at what happens here" Zuko answered bluntly.

"Oh yeah? And still you let your uncle play Pai-Sho and drink tea whenever he wants, not to mention his idea of Music Night" she giggled, though making sure it would annoy Zuko.

"Are you enjoying the fact that you're annoying me?" he sat down in front of her, looking seriously at her.

"Mostly yes, your harsh temper is just so tempting" she just said, though seeming sarcastically and gave him the tongue, Zuko found her being very childish, yet her small pink tongue somehow made him want to experience its softness against his own, he gulped and the thought, almost feeling like he was drooling at his friend.

He stood up again and stared down at her "So how can I make you behave?"

"How about letting me onto the ground? I hate being on water for so long, it makes me feel dizzy" she complained and got up herself, looking into Zuko's eyes with a pleading look.

He sighed and found out a key "Fine, but only because I have to go and check on uncle Iroh again" he explained and unlocked her cell. She quickly got out but Zuko managed to get ahold on her wrist and pull her close to him, staring into her nut-brown eyes, he was almost able to see his reflection clearly in her eyes. Hua felt surprised by his sudden action.

"But if you try to flee or attack me, I'll make sure you'll regret it deeply" he threatened and his grip tightened around her arms.

"Okay fine, but let me go! You're hurting me!" Hua complained, almost in a whining voice.

Zuko quickly let her go, not wanting to hurt his friend, then he instead took her hand and gently pulled her with him.

When Zuko and Hua got back to the hot springs were Zuko had left Iroh earlier, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Didn't you say Iroh was here?" Hua asked, looking around the place.

"He was when I left him" Zuko sighed and walked up to the hot spring, which Iroh had been sitting in. He noticed something different about it, there was strange rock coming up from the hot spring, almost covering it.

"Earthbenders" he figured, by the rocks' strange position.

"They took him?" Hua asked looking around "There are his clothes" she pointed at a bush, where Iroh's clothes were still hanging.

"We have to find him quickly" Zuko said and jumped up on the back of his bull-rhino "Come on" Zuko demanded and took ahold of her hand. She nodded and got up on the rhino, sitting behind Zuko.

She quickly put her arms around Zuko when the bull-rhino took off in a great leap into the woods, following Iroh's track. She clung to him, afraid to fall off, since she wasn't tied to him this time.

Zuko pulled at the reins on his rhino as soon as it jumped out of the woods and got to a small path, the bull-rhino was now walking slowly forth. Hua sighed in relief on leaned her forehead against Zuko's back.

"I hate bull-rhino riding" she complained and kept resting her head against Zuko's body, he felt his cheeks burn from the closeness of his friend.

Though suddenly Zuko noticed something flying across the sky, he recognized it as the Avatar's flying bison. His fists clenched a bit and his look grew serious. Hua noticed his body tense and looked up at the bison; she bit down her lip wishing Zuko would let it pass this time at least.

"Zuko, I know it's a difficult choice; but think about it this way, the Avatar is still out there for you to capture him, the Earth Kingdom on the other hand aren't rumoured for being nice to their prisoners, and certainly not when it's a Fire Nation General like your uncle" Hua explained.

"What do you mean?" Zuko asked.

"All I'm saying is that you should listen to your heart, what feels the best to do at the moment?" she told him.

Zuko sighed and kicked the rhino forward, his gaze fixed at the small road; he had chosen to find his uncle over capturing the Avatar.

"I'm proud of you Zuko" Hua whispered and patted his shoulder, smiling a bit by his action.

He didn't answer though, but deep down he was almost moved to tears to hear those words from his old friend.

They've been riding for some time in silence, that's when the rhino stopped in the middle of the road. Zuko almost fell forward at the sudden stopping.

"Why're you stopping you stupid beast!" Zuko yelled, about the punch it in the head.

"Zuko wait!" Hua pleaded and grabbed his arm "Look" she then pointed at an old sandal lying on the road.

"That's why it was stopping?" Zuko mumbled and jumped off the rhino, he walked up to the sandal and took it in his hand.

"Is it Iroh's?" she asked, leaning forward on the bull-rhino.

Zuko seemed to study it for a bit, before sniffing at it, the stench nearly made his nose fall off; it was awful, sour and terribly strong.

"Ugh! That's definitely uncle Iroh" he concluded, holding the sandal out in stretched arm, not wanting to feel that scent again.

"E-ew!" Hua complained and leaned back on the rhino, not wanting to try and sniff the shoe's essence.

"This will surely lead us to my uncle" Zuko said and made the rhino sniff it; the rhino almost roared by the mean scent and shook its head.

"Here we go!" Hua said, as it started to get impatient "Get on!" she said and almost pulled Zuko up on the animal's back again.

Zuko frowned at the animal's sudden urge to find Iroh, he could hardly get up on its back again.

"Come on you weakling" Hua teased and pulled him up, so he could get his leg across the rhino and sit straight again.

Surely the rhino was eager to move on, it took a long time before it stopped and looked around almost confused, it was about to become twilight around them.

"A blind track?" Hua asked, looking around.

"No, he has to be here somewhere" Zuko said, his voice low and serious, Hua figured he was worried of his uncle.

"Then we should search for him, don't you think?" she finally said and jumped off of the rhino, though her legs quickly yielded under her, making her fall to her knees. She quietly whimpered under her breath, but got to her feet within a short while, before Zuko would ask question.

She then walked towards some big bushes outside the path.

"Where are you going?" Zuko said, almost as if he was ready for Hua to run off.

"I'm trying to look for Iroh and-"She suddenly cut herself off with a surprised gasp, then she looked at Zuko and waved him towards her.

Zuko looked confused at her and got off of the rhino again, he walked towards Hua, still not understanding what she was so serious about so suddenly.

"Look" she whispered and slightly pointed down at a small cliff, a bunch of Earthbenders was standing around another person with his hands chained to a great rock, one of the Earthbenders had forced a boulder out of the ground and shoved it towards the person, still holding it in the air, just above his hands.

"Uncle" Zuko gasped and ran down the road to get down to the Earthbenders and stop them, before they did anything to Iroh.

Hua looked after Zuko, confused "Where did he go?" she asked concerned, then she looked down at Iroh and the earthbenders. They were about to crush his hands when suddenly Zuko jumped out of nowhere and kicked the boulder away from Iroh.

"Zuko!" Iroh said in surprise as he was cut free by his nephew, he quickly got to his feet and turned his back at Zuko, now that they were surrounded by Earthbenders.

They were five opponents against two.

"Give it up! You're outnumbered!" one of the Earthbenders spoke.

Zuko looked around at the Earthbenders around them, Iroh did too. But all seven of them looked up when they heard a female voice approaching them.

"Think again, Rocky!" it was Hua, who was jumping down from her hiding spot, Zuko looked up at her with concern and quickly caught her before she hit the ground, remembering how she fell down from the rhino earlier.

Hua blushed in surprise as Zuko was carrying her, but then she smiled at him and together all three of them looked a bit more seriously, not to mention amused, at the Earthbenders.

"I think we're a bit more even now!" Hua mocked and got to her feet.

The Earthbenders was still surprised, but their expression quickly grew angry as they saw her.

"Stupid girl!" one of them shouted, and together all five of them started Earthbending.

Iroh and Zuko quickly used their Firebending against some of the men, knocking them off their feet and even knocking one of them out cold.

Hua took part in the fun and started Waterbending a great wave towards the remaining Earthbenders, they were knocked into boulders and bushes around them, and soon Zuko, Hua and Iroh had won the battle.

"Good job Hua" Iroh complimented with a grin.

"Thanks" she smiled.

"Now put on some clothes uncle!" Zuko demanded, as Iroh was still only wearing his underwear.

Hua squealed and covered her eyes with her hands, though she quickly removed them again; as the three of them had started laughing.

For the first time Hua found amusement in being with her childhood friend once again, even Zuko was laughing and without thinking he took her hand in his.

Their laughing soothed away as Hua noticed Zuko holding her hand, they exchanged embarrassed looks for a while and then quickly looked away from each other, blushing.

Iroh looked from each of them a couple of times, and then he scratched his beard with a knowing smile.

"Let's get back to the ship."

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**I'm working on the next chapter already, but it feels like I'm not even halfway done with it, for now it's 5 pages, and I haven't even got to the actual climax yet x.X**

***sigh* And I though THIS chapter was long, can't wait 'till I'm done with Book 1 TwT**


	8. The Crescent Moon Island

**Gosh! It's done, for a moment I actually thought of making this into a two-parts chapter, but I just managed to write the rest of it, luckily xD**

**Now the title kinda gives it all away again, so I'm not telling you so much - only that Hua is being very defiant, but that's just something Zuko has to get used to, by travelling with her, I tell ya :b**

**People please review, I want your opinion on the story, you must have a reason to fav. my fic, I would like to know; also if you have ideas or anything you'd like me to know :O**

**I can tell you as much as that I'm soon done with writing the journal for Book 2 *sighs* Soon Book 3 and then I have to 100% use my own imagination afterwards - well duh this IS Book 4 after all, I never intended to end my fic after Book 3 xD What do you take me for ! o.o**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

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After retrieving his uncle from the Earthbenders, as well as having a great time with Hua, Zuko was now ready to find the Avatar once again.

He and Iroh was about to enter a village, which they've discovered the Avatar had been in, not long ago. Zuko had of course bought Hua with him, just in case, and since he actually had enjoyed her company by now.

"The Avatar has been here! Do you know where he's headed?" Zuko shouted at the village's chief, who was almost shrinking in front of them in fear.

"Zuko please be just a tad gentler" Hua pleaded, standing next to her friend, whispering to him.

Zuko looked at her for a short while "What do you want me to do? Say 'please' and 'thank you'?" he whispered back and sighed.

"They-they're headed towards a crescent-shaped island, it's in the Fire Nation" the chief said in a nervous voice.

Zuko's eyes widened slightly as the man mentioned the Fire Nation, but he didn't say anything, instead he took off towards his ship again.

"A crescent-shaped island in the Fire Nation" Iroh murmured as they were back on the sea again.

"I know where it is" Zuko simply said, he kept holding a good grip around Hua wrist, just in case of course.

"Zuko, it would be a foolish thing to do, going back to the Fire Nation; you've been banished!" Iroh warned him, seeming a bit more serious by now.

"I don't have any other choice" Zuko sighed and looked away from Iroh.

Hua looked at him, a bit concerned and she gently placed her hand on his. Zuko's body tensed a tad, though he didn't want to look at her.

"It's the Avatar!" a guard suddenly shouted and pointed at the sky, Zuko and Hua looked up to where the guard pointed, and noticed the large sky-bison owned by the Avatar.

Zuko quickly let go of Hua and stepped forward "Get the catapults out and shoot him down! Right now!" he shouted to his crew, they quickly did as told and pushed out a large wooden catapult, they were preparing a big boulder-looking thing on it as well. Hua wasn't sure what it was but it was covered in something that smelled awful, it was probably oil or something like that.

"On my mark!" Zuko shouted, looking up at the Avatar before he lit the boulder on fire, it burned quickly with the help of the oil.

Hua looked at Zuko and deeply wished the boulder would miss, she couldn't imagine what would happen it the boulder hit the flying bison.

"Fire!" he demanded and the boulder was fired towards the Avatar and his bison.

Hua held her breath as the boulder flew through the air, straight towards the sky-bison; he heart stopped for a second as the boulder came very close, but fortunately missed its target. She sighed heavily in relief.

"Prince Zuko! Look!" another guard suddenly shouted and Zuko looked the way the guard looked, his eyes widened in surprise.

In front of their one ship was an entire blockade of Fire Navy ships, and they were sailing straight towards it.

"Prince Zuko, we should turn the ship around immediately!" Iroh suggested sounding a bit desperate.

"No! We're running the blockade!" Zuko insisted, he seemed to have forgotten everything about Hua all of a sudden, being more interested in catching the Avatar soon.

But as the ship closed up on the blockade, Zuko noticed they were preparing aim at them, in no time it was raining with fire-lit boulders from the sky, they had tons of catapults and they kept firing more and more.

Hua stared up at the boulders in horror, fire raining from the sky reminded her clearly of that day, years back the first time the Fire Nation attacked her village, and burned her legs. She was about to cry out loud, but suddenly saw a boulder heading straight her way; she screamed in fear and tried to run away from it.

That's when Zuko realized Hua was in danger, he quickly turned around and looked worried at her, without time to think he ran towards her as quickly as possible, he grabbed her around her waist and jumped away from the boulder as it hit the ship.

Zuko was sliding along the floor with Hua in his arms; she clenched her hands around his shirt in fear and looked back at the hole that was now made in the ship. She was gasping for air, as her heart was racing in chest. Then she sighed in relief and looked down at Zuko, seeming quite surprised by herself sitting on top of the Fire Nation Prince.

She quickly moved away from Zuko and sat on the floor "Thank you" she murmured a bit embarrassed.

Zuko sat up next to her a slightly smiled at her reaction, then he looked around realizing the attack had stopped, though a thick smoke was coming from the ship after the attack. He got to his feet and stared at the ship they were passing by, he saw Commander Zhao. The man who led the attack, just a moment ago.

They exchanged mean glares for as long as it took Zuko's ship to pass through the blockade.

"What's he up to uncle? Why didn't Commander Zhao arrest me?" Zuko frowned by the Commander's weakness.

"It's because he wants to follow us, using the smoke as the track" Iroh explained as he walked up to Zuko.

"If he wants to follow us by the smoke, then that's what I give him" Zuko then quickly said, as he seemed to have gotten an idea.

Zuko sighed both in anger and yet in relief, then he looked at Hua just to make sure she wasn't hurt, that's when he noticed the bandages on her legs had broken a bit, he saw her skin underneath, it was almost crimson-red and even black somewhere.

"Hua, what happened?" he asked concerned pointing at her legs.

Hua was surprised by Zuko's tone and quickly gazed at her legs, then she sighed and rubbed her arm.

"I guess I have to tell you now, huh?" she murmured.

"My legs weren't hurt just now, they've been this badly injured for some years now. From the first time my village was attacked by the Fire Nation. Fireballs was raining from the sky, they even lit the ground on fire. That's when I was unlucky and got hurt – the villagers nursed me back to health and I found it necessary to repay the villagers somehow, so I became their helper in whatever water-implying job they had for me"

Zuko felt a knife in his heart, he felt deeply guilty about her injury, and he clenched his fists in the deep pain in his heart. He could've cried.

"Zuko?" Hua asked and stepped closer to him "It's not your fault, you weren't leading the attack back then" she said and gently placed her hand on his chest.

"It feels that way" he whispered, looking into her eyes, but there was no hatred to find in them.

"I have to leave" Zuko said after a moment of silence, "I must find the Avatar" he declared and left her alone, he then walked towards Iroh and asked for a smaller boat.

Hua sighed in irritation and crossed her arms, she felt a bit betrayed for Zuko to suddenly change the subject like that, and just leave.

She saw him step onto a smaller boat, and the ship slowly lowered the boat into the sea.

"Iroh, is he just leaving without a word?" Hua asked, not quite able to settle down.

"I suppose so" Iroh said, nodding.

"Why am I not coming with him this time then?" she complained, seeing it as a kind of betrayal from Zuko's side to just leave her behind all of a sudden.

"Well, he's a man with a lot of things on his mind lately, capturing the Avatar means very much to him. Either he doesn't want you in the way or he doesn't want you to get more injured" Iroh suggested and shrugged slightly.

"He still blames himself? I just said it wasn't his fault" Hua murmured and looked to her feet.

"I suppose so Hua, but if you want to stop him; feel free" Iroh said as he crossed his arms with a knowing smile.

Hua thought about that for a moment; did he want her to follow Zuko? Would Zuko appreciate it, if he found out?

She sighed and clenched her fists; she saw Zuko's boat sail away, using the smoke from the ship as a cover, for Zhao not to follow him.

"I can't believe I'm doing this" Hua murmured and ran towards the edge of the ship, when she came closer she jumped into the water and dived. The water wasn't as cool as Hua imagined it, good thing she just learned to swim; there had been a puddle back home where she learned it, the ocean was a bit different and a lot deeper, as well as bigger, but Hua tried to calm herself down. She could waterbend after all, which meant she would be out of danger.

She came up to the surface and looked back at the ship; Iroh was standing at the edge smiling down at her and nodded.

Hua understood what he meant and she quickly swam after Zuko's boat. Being a waterbender, she was able to almost push the water out of her way to make herself go faster, it was like riding a great wave. She figured Zuko hadn't seen her yet, she was very close now, if she just could reach the edge of the ship.

Suddenly, almost without realizing it, she bended the water up towards the ship, she had created a pillar and right now she was sitting on it. She gasped in surprised and swiftly jumped aboard the ship and hid behind a large wooden chest.

She looked at her hands in surprise and couldn't help but smile; it seemed she had learned a new waterbending move, which was quite shocking since it's been a while since she's been able to practice her bending at all.

She was almost squealing in happiness, but remembered she wanted to hide away from Zuko; figuring he would get quite unpleasant if he saw or even heard her. She quietly looked out from her hiding spot, she saw Zuko stand with his back turned to her as he was steering the boat, being the only man aboard to do so.

Though she could not see his face, she figured he was in deep thought of finding the Avatar; she sighed lowly and leaned against the chest.

"Zuko" she whispered under her breath.

She must've dozen off because the next thing she felt was a big bump and suddenly the boat didn't sail any further. She held her breath when she suddenly heard footsteps behind her and figured they must've come to the island by now.

When she got out from her hiding spot she just managed to see Zuko run towards a large temple on top of the island.

"Guess I have to follow him" she shrugged, not wanting to be left alone. Then she looked around, the boat was being stopped by sand, it had hit the beach and stopped. There wasn't any dock on this island; Hua figured it was hardly ever visited then.

When she looked around she could make out the island had the exact same shape as a crescent moon, just like the village's chief had told Zuko back then.

Hua got down from the ship and followed Zuko's track towards the temple, she ran half the way, though it didn't go much faster than if she had just walked. She walked faster than she ran after all.

When Hua finally got up to the temple, she noticed the door was still open; it felt suspiciously strange but she walked inside, she wanted to find Zuko and see what he was up to.

She heard a bunch of noise coming from the end of some huge stairs, she sighed in annoyance. Hua hated stairs, they never did well to her legs, but she had to.

"Well, come on feet, show me what you've got" she encouraged herself and started _crawling _up the stairs. She was almost panting when she got to the end, though she quickly lowered her head for no one to see her; she saw Zuko with his back turned to her, he was holding the Avatar as a hostage, and four monks had grabbed his friends, the waterbending girl, her brother and another monk, even the lemur who was following the Avatar was captured by a monk.

"Close the door! Now!" Zuko demanded pointed at a gigantic red wooden door, which had been opened, Hua wasn't able to see what was inside the room, it was so dark in there, and she couldn't figure it out.

She saw the Avatar's friends being chained to a great pillar in the middle of the room, but the Avatar himself seemed to be struggling to get out of Zuko grip, suddenly he used his airbending and with a great blow he pushed Zuko down the stairs were Hua was hiding. She gasped when Zuko stumbled past her, she wasn't sure if he was okay or if he had seen her, and instead she quickly ran up from the stairs and hid behind the closest pillar. The room being full of them.

As she looks towards the door again, she just manages to see the Avatar jump through the small gap there was between the doors, and then it gets shut for good. She sighs in relief, since it seemed to be important for him to get in there, and since Zuko wanted the door shut so badly.

Then she hears Zuko run up from the stairs and towards the door again, clearly he didn't see her yet.

"Quick! We must open the door!" he shouted at the four monks, the fifth being chained to the same pillar as the Avatar's friends.

The monks took their positions in front of the door together with Zuko, now Hua could see what was on the door, a great doorhandle shaped like two giant dragon heads, and five small holes in the doors as well. They swiftly shoot a fireball inside each of the holes, this being the key to open the door, but nothing happens.

"Why isn't it opening?" Zuko frowned in anger.

"It must be Avatar Roku, he doesn't want us to interfere" one of the monks explained.

Hua remembered that name, Avatar Roku was the late Avatar, before this airbending kid, he had been a firebender and was rumoured for being the Avatar who had disappeared a 100 years ago. But how could the new Avatar be able to speak with his past life?

Hua quickly hid again when she saw Zuko staring her way, when she looked out again, she saw him walk towards the fifth monk, who seemed to be a betrayer.

"Why did you help the Avatar?" Zuko frowned at the older man.

The man was completely calm the whole time, even if it was the infuriated Prince Zuko, he was talking to.

"Because it was once the sages' duty, it is still our duty" he explained simply.

"Well, well, well. Looks like your little smoke cover didn't work, Prince Zuko" the oh so infamous voice of Commander Zhao was suddenly heard from the stairs, Hua gasped and quickly hid away behind the pillar again.

"Commander Zhao" the Prince frowned and clenched his fists, almost gridding his teeth as well.

"Not to mention that little girl following behind you" Zhao started, but Zuko interfered.

"Girl?" he murmured.

"Yes, your little waterbender-girlfriend" Zhao explained, Hua couldn't see his expression, but she was ready to bet everything on that Zuko was very angry by now. She closed her eyes and just simply wanted to disappear from this place for once.

But suddenly a strong arm grabs at her and pulls her out from her hiding spot.

"Ah, there you are little girl" Zhao said with a mocking voice and laughed evilly at the poor girl.

Hua was right; Zuko's expression was the total opposite of being glad, in less than a minute the two of them were chained to another pillar, standing close together. Hua tried to break the ice by looking up at Zuko, but instead he just started wrathfully back at her, and she quickly looked away again, feeling that his eyes would be able to kill her, if she looked for too long.

"Commander Zhao, what should we do now?" one of his guards asked.

"Now we just wait, the Avatar will surely get out sometime" the commander answered with a grin.

Zuko seemed like he didn't want to speak with Hua at all, but he surely did like to glare at her, probably hoping she would react to it somehow.

It worked though and she sighed heavily "Listen Zuko, if you're taking extra good care of me, now that you know of my injury, then forget it, I don't need special treatment, I've done fine the past years and I don't need nursing now" she explained.

"What? So I should just ignore the fact that your legs are almost burned to pieces? And you say you can take care of yourself?" he sneered at her.

Hua was about to throw a remark back at Zuko, when suddenly a strong blue light came from the room, from where the Avatar had been in. The door was shut open and the light shone even stronger now, Hua had to close her eyes for a while, before her eyes to get used to the strong light.

"It's the Avatar! Attack him!" Zhao commanded and both him and his guards firebended fiercely towards the person standing in the doorway. The fire was being stopped swiftly, the person in the doorway was not the little monk; it was... Avatar Roku himself.

Hua looked at the late Avatar with amusement in her eyes, this was incredible, he was actually real. And he was kicking the butts of Zhao and his soldiers, well actually he was just firebending at them, making them flee right away, when he firebend again he attacked the chains which held the Avatar's friends, the monk and even Zuko and Hua in place.

Zuko looked at the firebending Avatar for a short while, then he quickly takes his leave down the stairs, Hua quickly looked after Zuko and followed him right away, not wanting to be left behind.

She just managed to hear the other waterbender shout "Avatar Roku is going to destroy the temple!"

As they were trying to escape, the walls began to crack and the floor behind them started to crumble. Zuko was fast and Hua had a hard time keeping up with him, but she figured this now was about her life, if she didn't make it out, she would certainly get buried alive underneath all the rocks from the temple.

"Zuko! Wait for me!" Hua pleaded as she was starting to pant and her legs was almost giving in underneath her, that's when she heard cracking noises just under her feet, Zuko didn't seem to listen and kept running, that's when the crack started to grow and suddenly there came a hole in the floor.

Hua didn't get out of the way in time and was about to fall down into a huge lava pit which had been under the floor the whole time, she just managed to get a grip at the edges of the part of the floor, which was still hole, though.

Hua looked down at the lava pit, it was bubbling and looked threatening to her, the huge blocks of the floor which had just fallen into the pit and had already burned beyond recognition. She did not wish to end up like that too.

"Zuko!" she screamed when she suddenly heard the edges of the floor, which she was holding onto, starting to crack "Please, help me!"

Zuko stopped as soon as he heard her desperate voice and he quickly turned around, for a part of a millisecond he almost had second thoughts whether to rescue his friend or not. Only for a part of a millisecond though, he quickly got to her side and managed to pull her into security in his tight and manly grip, right before the floor cracked even further.

Zuko heard Hua's deep and yet quick breathing, she was still in minor shock from what just happened, and she was clinging to him in fear. Zuko couldn't help but just blush slightly at this moment and he hugged her tightly, realizing he could've just lost his friend back there.

But his thoughts was interrupted by more cracks from the floor and Zuko quickly got Hua into his arms as he carried her out from the temple, even when they got outside and the temple had already been destroyed, Zuko didn't stop running before he got down to his boat and got Hua in safety for good.

When Zuko was sailing the boat back to his ship, Hua wouldn't leave his side at all, he guessed she was still afraid, since she still hugged him tightly like before.

"Zuko, I just want you to know how grateful I am for what you just did. You really saved my life, I thought I was going to die for sure" she whispered and slightly smiled "Thank you very much" then she kissed his cheek.

Zuko could've sunk the boat right here and now, he was so surprised and blushed so heavily, he felt for a second that he could die a happy man. But he shook the thought away quickly and tried to focus on the ocean instead, though there wasn't much to look at for now.

He sighed heavily and couldn't help but actually smile, he felt proud for what he had done.

When the two of them got back to the ship, Iroh was waiting for them; he was playing his usual game on the deck with a warm cup of tea in his hand.

But his calm expression changed into great confusion when he saw the looks on the two teenagers, both Zuko and Hua was smiling silly and they were blushing.

A long awkward silence is filling the ship's deck, when they get aboard again.

"Something tells me you've had a nice trip?" Iroh suggested, but neither Zuko or Hua dared to look at each other now, knowing the other was blushing.

"I never understand teenagers" Iroh sighed and settled down with his game and tea again, trying to ignore to two sillies at his side.

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**Remind me to never write such a long chapter ever again x.X**

**I'm probably gonna make the big crescendo of Book 1, into a three-parts chapter or something, I dunno yet, but from the looks of my journal I can't wait for Book 2, it seems shorter than this - well probably not when I'm done with it .-.**

**Gimme some response people! I need to feed on your responses and reviews! D: I need to know what you like and don't like about my fic, pretty please? Ó.o**


	9. The Pirate Bay Part 1

**Now I've written the entire journal of Book 2, but I think I'll wait a while before writing my journal for Book 3 - I'm having about 40 pages to write down now *sigh* And here I said I believed Book 2 to be one of the shorter ones, forget what I said TwT**

**I've made this chapter into a two-parts, 'cause it would be quite long and I'm pretty tired by now, I'll make sure to write part 2 tomorrow though!**

**Zuko is having quite a few troubles in this chapter, and not for the reasons you think xD;**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

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After getting back from Crescent Moon Isle, and learning about her bad injury Zuko decided to let Hua get her own room. That was on some conditions though; first of all she would have the room right next to Zuko's, then there would be guards at her doors during the day, and during the night she would either get her door locked or she would have to sleep with Zuko instead.

Zuko found it very fair, at least he let her choose between one and the other.

Hua figured he would have some kind of hidden plan underneath his small offer, therefore she had respectfully said that she wanted her doors to get locked instead.

It had been two days since they left the Crescent Moon Isle and the Fire Nation (once again) and Zuko was standing on the deck, in the middle of practicing with one of his soldiers. The soldier was wearing his uniform still, but Zuko was shirtless as if this was a real Agni Kai, like back when he had fought Zhao.

The soldier was firebending at Zuko, but he quickly managed to avoid all his attacks and then send a fireball towards soldier. But suddenly when he had done so, the ship turned rapidly, causing both Zuko and the soldier to stumble or even slide down the deck of the ship and hit the gunwale, they had to hold on tight as quickly as they hit it, making sure not to fall off the ship.

Hua, sitting in her new room on her soft bed, was almost thrown through the air and hit the wall at the other side of the bed; the ship had clearly made a sharp turn just now. She felt on her sore back when she finally got to her feet again, "ouch, what was that about?" she went over to the door to get out of the room.

"Someone's changing our course!" Zuko yelled in anger and looked around. When the ship finally was sailing straight again Zuko rushed towards the steering-room, having a word or two to let out on the captain.

"Who told you to change our course!" Zuko demanded as he marched up to the captain in anger.

"Actually I did" Iroh explained, sitting by the wall with a few men, a part of the crew, and played a game of Pai-Sho, he was smiling knowingly though as he started moving a tile around the board, and one of the men hit his forehead as he clearly lost to him.

Before Zuko could ask why Hua came inside the steering-room, still feeling at her sore back.

"What was that just now? Am I not allowed some peace and quiet in my room, without being slung into a wall?" she complained, sounding a bit irritated.

"I am sorry about that Hua, but this is an urgent matter" Iroh then explained looking at his nephew and the girl.

"You see; I've lost my lotus-tile, it's my good-luck charm when I play Pai-Sho" he then smiled, that usual smile of his has started to irritate Zuko, it had become a habit.

"So what?" Hua asked in confusion.

"So we need to go to a market where I can buy a new lotus-tile! Therefore I changed the course" Iroh grinned.

Though Zuko wasn't pleased at all by his uncle's decision, he clenched his fists and had turned so angry that he breathed fast and then he let his head back; spewing fire from his mouth, almost like a dragon, to show off his dissatisfaction towards Iroh's plan.

Hua looked a bit surprised at Zuko and sighed "Here goes the dragon."

Iroh simply smiled "I have such an understanding nephew" clearly it was pure sarcasm; he knew very well how displeased Zuko was at this point.

Hua thought for a moment before she spoke "Hey, if we're going to a market, can I come with you?" she asked, now sounding very delighted by Iroh's decision.

Zuko looked at her, looking as if he was thinking it through; whether to let her stay or take her with them.

"Please Zuko" she pleaded and tried with the puppy-eyes as she folded her hands in a demanding manner.

Zuko took a very deep breath to calm himself down, then he looked into Hua's eyes and said "Okay then, just this once."

"Thank you so much Zuko!" she squealed and kissed his cheek in happiness, then she ran out of the room to get her money-pouch.

Zuko's eyes had widened a lot by the small kiss and his cheeks burned crimson-red, his jaw had dropped almost to his stomach, Iroh noticed this and laughed out aloud.

"Really Prince Zuko, if that is a girl's gift of happiness, you should let _that_ girl out of her cage some more!" he chuckled and got up from his seat by the Pai-Sho table.

Zuko was still standing very still, slightly touching his cheek at the exact spot were Hua's lips had brushed his skin, his mouth curled into a slight smile.

"She... kissed me?" he could hardly believe it, he felt butterflies grow inside his stomach from excitement, Iroh was right, he had to be more open to this girl, if she wanted _her _to be open to _him _again.

"Yes my nephew" Iroh walked up to Zuko, gently patting his shoulder "and she will do it more often, if you keep treating her like a woman, instead of a wounded animal" Iroh chuckled again and gave his nephew a gentle, yet hard hit in the back, almost making him stumble.

"Now go get ready, we are going to the marketplace!" Iroh announced.

When the ship came to the port, they were met by a great sight; this city oozed with merchandisers and shops everywhere near the quay, people were walking and talking everywhere; some were shouting that their wares was the best in the whole world, some other announced theirs to be on a discount.

Both Iroh and Hua grew more excited when the ship finally stopped at the port, and they ran out from the ship toward the marketplace, Zuko had to keep up with them, making sure he wouldn't lose sight of Iroh or Hua for that matter, she would probably still run away at some point, he guessed.

They wandered around the marketplace for hours, Iroh in deep search for the lotus-tile and Hua on her shopping spree for anything she would want.

She had stopped by a small shop, which sold women's cosmetics and she had noticed a pretty lipstick, she pulled the lid off and looked fascinated at the colour of it; it was a dark purple one, which had a slight glimmer on it in the sunlight.

"Excuse me, may I try this one?" she formally asked the female shopkeeper.

"Why of course my dear, that colour would look great on you" the woman answered with a kind smile.

Zuko had walked up to Hua, to see what she was looking at though he almost felt disgusted at the sight. That a boy thing. Then he looked at Hua who was fixing her eyes in a small mirror on the table.

When she turned around, her full lips were painted a dark purple colour, which made her lips look even more inviting than they already were without. Zuko tried to calm himself down, before he would go nuts.

"My, I think your boyfriend appreciates your looks" the shopkeeper chuckled looking at the blushing Zuko.

"It seems so" Hua shrugged and slightly smiled at the Fire Nation Prince.

Zuko held his breath, while holding a hand to his mouth; in deep trouble of settling himself down quickly.

"Do you think I should buy this, Zuko?" she asked him, holding up the lipstick in her hand.

Zuko didn't answer at first, which caused Hua to get a bit nervous, whether he liked it or not.

"Zuko, are you alright?" she asked, puzzled by his look.

"Definitely! You should buy it right away!" he said, slapping his hands around hers, holding them closes as he stared at Hua's innocent, yet tempting face, "Now excuse me for a moment!" then he quickly ran towards Iroh, just to get away from this alluring young woman, before anything else went wrong.

Hua looked totally confused after Zuko, wondering what just went wrong.

"He's a strange one, your boyfriend" the shopkeeper remarked with a nervous smile.

"He sure is. Well, at least he liked it" Hua shrugged and paid for the lipstick, then walked off to the next shop.

Zuko was standing behind a shop, near Iroh, his heart was galloping in his chest; Iroh noticed Zuko and walked over to him.

"Prince Zuko, what is wrong with you?" he asked in concern.

"It's nothing, I just-" he tried to make up a good excuse for looking and acting like this, this was too embarrassing to even mention to his uncle "-I just thought I saw a lotus-tile over at the next shop, but when I looked, they didn't have it" he sighed, hoping Iroh would believe him.

Iroh's gaze turned serious for a moment then he said "Then it's no wonder you're acting so strangely, you're just sad because you couldn't find the lotus-tile for uncle!" he said and embraced Zuko.

"Uh, sure?" Zuko shrugged, finally calming down again, in deep relief that Iroh believed his lie.

Hua was walking towards another shop which sold beautiful dresses, from all over the world; she recognized some as being from the Earth Kingdom, even a few from the Fire Nation. She figured she would make Zuko happy if she wore Fire Nation clothes, just a few times.

She had a look on a long dress, with long sleeves and a corsage which would cover her from right underneath her chest till the start of her waist. The upper part of the dress was smaller, which she figured would show off a lot of her cleavage if she would wear it. It looked like it had belonged to a princess though.

She wanted to buy it so badly but she was sure she couldn't afford it, Iroh had sneaked up on her and suddenly he stood beside her.

"It's a lovely dress" he remarked with a slight smile.

Hua almost jumped in surprise when she heard the old man's voice "Don't do that!" she sighed in frustration.

Then she looked at the dress again with a sad expression "But yes, it really is lovely" she nodded at Iroh's remark.

"I bet you would look dashing in it" he said, and quietly put some gold pieces in her hand.

Hua looked surprised at the money and stared at Iroh "Are you giving me the dress?" she asked, this would only be the second time someone had ever given her something. The first time being Zuko, the necklace she had worn ever since.

Iroh smiled and nodded slightly "It is not every day I see my nephew I such a happy mood, if that is how you affect him, I will gladly donate some money for you to look good" he winked at her and Hua smiled at the old man, quietly shaking her head as he went over to another shop; still hunting down the lotus-tile.

Hua paid for the dress and got it wrapped up inside a nice box, she figured she shouldn't buy any more things just yet, she didn't have that much money on her and besides; she had just been given a very lovely and very expensive dress.

When she met up with Iroh and Zuko later, she was watching a whole bunch of Zuko's soldiers carrying stuff aboard the ship; she stared at them in surprise, every single soldier who went past them, had one or more things in their arms.

"Well, I didn't find the lotus-tile" Iroh announced and shrugged his shoulders.

"I knew this was a waste of time!" Zuko complained about them being there for hours, probably loosing track of the Avatar completely.

"I don't think it was that bad, at least I got to have ground underneath my feet again. And I got to shop a bit" she smiled, gazing at the box she had under her arm.

"What's in that box?" Zuko asked.

"No good, I'm not telling" Hua smiled up at him with a knowing look, which almost caused Zuko to blush.

"I don't think it matters too much with the tile, at least I found a lot of other good stuff, which I wasn't looking for to begin with!" Iroh clapped his hands together in enjoyment.

"You bought a Tsungi horn?" Zuko asked, as a soldier passed them holding a large golden horn in his hands.

"For Music Night at the ship" Iroh pointed out "You two should join us the next time" he smiled teasingly at Hua and Zuko.

Zuko stared at Hua shortly, then he turned his gaze away; he felt completely vulnerable to her looks today, what was wrong with him?

A soldier walked up to Hua, offering to take her belongings back to the ship, she smiled and nodded; handed them over to the guard.

Meanwhile Iroh had suddenly gotten his eyes on a large wooden ship by the quay, not far away from Zuko's ship.

"Let's go look here!" Iroh shouts for Zuko, who irritated follows him, they walk up at the ship and is guided inside by a slender-built man with long greasy hair, and clothes that would probably belong to the Earth Kingdom.

Hua then finally turned around, realizing she had lost sight of both Zuko and Iroh, she sighed deeply; figuring this would mean trouble for her later.

"Well, guess there's no way back. I could just go for a walk until they come back, it's not like they would leave without me anyways" she encouraged herself, and decided to walk down the quay, the noticed a forest not too far away, maybe she could go in there for a while.

Back at the wooden ship; Iroh is looking around all the merchandise with great curiousity, Zuko on the other hand would just keep to himself and wait 'till his uncle would be done shopping.

Zuko figured this would be a ship of pirates, since the man, apparently being the captain, wore one of those famous hats and had a lizard-parrot on his shoulder; not to mention his grim look and all those exotic wares they were selling, for very high prices.

Then Iroh walked towards a bookcase where he saw an outstanding object; a statue of a marbled monkey; it seemed to be worth a fine sum of money, because it has rubies as eyes and even a necklace of rubies too. It had a wicked smile on its face and all in all just looked rather uninviting.

Iroh on the other hand had a different meaning "This is handsome! Wouldn't it look magnificent in the galley?" he took it in his hands and looked back at Zuko, who tried to ignore his question, founding the monkey decidedly hideous.

Then something else caught Zuko's ears, he just barely overheard a talk between the captain and one of his crew-members.

"We lost track of the watergirl and the little bald monk she was with" the crew-member said to his boss, who didn't look happy at all.

Zuko then stepped forward with a suspicious thought on his mind "Excuse me, but did the monk have an arrow on his head?" his expression turning serious.

"He sure did, why'd you ask?" the crew-member had turned around, looking confused at Zuko.

"Let's make a deal then. I'm looking for this specific monk, and you're apparently looking for the girl who's following him" Zuko explains.

The captain's expression turned interested and he wanted to listen to what Zuko had to say.

Iroh was a bit nervous about the situation, whether this was a good idea or Zuko would cause them both trouble by dealing with pirates.

"Well, the girl stole a very special water-scroll from us, which we certainly wants back" the captain stated.

"Fine, then let's find the monk and the girl together, if they've been by today, they cannot have gone far" Zuko explained and went up to the captain's front.

"Do we have a deal?" he asked with a serious look as he reached his hand forward, for the captain to take.

"We sure do" the captain smiled evilly and shook Zuko's hand, violently.

"Very good."

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**Lol, I'm being mean to Zuko :D**

**He really cannot resist Hua's looks any longer I tell ya; soon he'll go totally bananas if she doesn't piss him off beforehand o3o**

**BTW, I just thought I would make a reference (whatsoever) of Hua's looks, just so you can picture her better in your mind.. yadda yadda :)**

**A link to a picture of Hua, can be found on my account, written in BOLD letters :D**

**(Sorry for never mentioning her bangs or her skirt, that's my mistake - I completely forgot, note that this 'dress up game' is of Katara, and I used it once to find inspiration for an OC for an RPG, but ended up writing a whole fic about her - that's why her looks matches by describtions so good, I made Hua up on the clothing and looks that I gave her on the picture.)**


	10. The Pirate Bay Part 2

**Here's part two of The Pirate Bay, I find it a very good idea to part this chapter in two, when I was done I had 9 pages in Word xD;**

**So Hua has walked into the woods and here she meets someone who could use a helping hand.. But Zuko will not be that happy with her decision.. n_n;**

**REMEMBER to check my account for a link to DeviantART, of a picture of Hua, the adress is written in bold letters :)**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

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It had turned dark quite fast, as Hua walked through the forest; she wasn't afraid of darkness, never been, but this place seemed somewhat gloomy and dull.

She calmed herself down by stopping and looking up at the night-sky, the stars shone bright from here. She smiled at their shimmering, but suddenly she was knocked over and fell onto the ground. Somebody had barged into her, causing her to fall over.

"Hey, watch it!" she said as she sat up again, rubbing the back of her head, in irritation.

"I'm sorry, I-" a female voice spoke and when Hua looked up, she saw the young waterbender who were traveling with the Avatar. What was her name again?

"You're-" Hua started but the girl quickly interrupted and backed away.

"Don't come near me! I bet Zuko's right near this place, right?" she shouted.

"No, no. Zuko's not here. It's only me, and I'm not going to hurt you or the Avatar, I promise" Hua said and slowly got to her feet.

"How can I trust you?" she asked.

"I'm a waterbender like yourself, why should I lie?" Hua shrugged.

The girl thought for a while and then smiled slightly "I believe you. My name is Katara, I'm from the Southern Water Tribe" she said and took her hand toward Hua in a 'hello'.

Hua looked at her hand and took it in a kind manner "I'm Hua, from the Earth Kingdom" she smiled.

"But you're a waterbender?" Katara said, puzzled.

"I know, I was born a waterbender but grew up in the Earth Kingdom" she explained and scratched her neck with a nervous smile, she found it better to leave out the Fire Nation-part.

"Seems like some life" Katara complimented.

"I guess so. Hey, what're you holding there?" Hua asked, finally noticing a scroll Katara had in her hands the whole time.

"Oh this? Um, you see- Well, since you're a waterbender I guess it's okay. I got this water-scroll and thought I wanted to learn the moves in it" she explained and opened the scroll, showing Hua the pictures, showing off some waterbending moves.

"Cool. Did you find that at the market nearby?" Hua asked, looking very curious at the moves the pictures showed.

Katara grew silent for a moment and somewhat seem to blush "Yeah, I actually… stole it from some pirates" she confessed and closed the scroll again.

Hua looked at her in suspiciousness "Do you think that was a good idea?"

"Probably not, Aang and my brother said the same thing, but I really need to learn this move"

"Do you need help?"

"You serious?"

"Sure, if you want my help I can teach you. I had to learn waterbending myself though, but I've become quite good at it"

Katara smiled and Hua "Me too, though I've had a hard time learning it."

"Don't worry, no one can learn equally fast, besides I spent lots of time to learn it myself, since I was a child" Hua smiled, encouraging the younger girl.

"Then let's go" Katara said and ran down towards a river nearby. Hua followed her, though not as fast, due to her legs, but she didn't complain. She figured the girl was very urgent to learn waterbending better.

Katara opened the scroll and placed it on a rock next to the water, and then she stood in front of it, trying to do the same as the little man on the pictures.

She tried bending a ball of water up in her hands, from the river, but before she even got to the shaping part, the water fell to the ground, splashing on Katara.

"Augh! Stupid water!" she said in annoyance.

"Don't worry Katara, you're focusing too much about learning it fast, than simply doing it. Take a look" Hua explained and started bending some water herself; Katara noticed she only looked at the scroll twice or something, then she did the moves as if she had tried this one before, she seemed like a master, compared to Katara.

In no time she had bend a perfectly shaped ball of water in her hands.

"See, it's not that hard" she said "Try the water-whip instead" she smiled.

Katara sighed a bit in frustration, for the fact that Hua was so much better than her.

"Okay" she said in a dry voice and stepped forward again. Hua settled down next to the water-scroll and waited for Katara to get started.

Katara breathed slowly, trying to control the water she started bending as well as her irritation for being a failure – compared to Hua.

Meanwhile Zuko and the pirate captain and his crew were heading towards the woods, following the river in the pirates' ship as well as Zuko's boat.

"Why don't we look in the forest?" the captain asked.

"It was a water-scroll she took right? Therefore they would be near water" Zuko explained, his mood had changed too, since he now knew Hua was gone too.

Katara had been trying out the waterbending moves from the water-scroll, for half an hour now, and she was almost ready to give up.

"Ugh! Stupid water! Why can't it do as I want it to!" she complained and almost kicked the boulder in frustration.

"Easy Katara, you can't learn everything in one day. Besides I bet Aang will teach you when you're travelling further" Hua smiled, still trying to encourage her.

"I don't care what you say! Just because you're so good!" she complained, now getting quite angry.

"Katara, I'm just trying to help you" Hua said, not letting her get upset by the girl's anger. But then something caught her ears, a rattling noise in the bushes, coming closer towards them. It sounded like heavy footsteps, and she started to feel a bit nervous.

"Can't you see you're not helping at all! You're just showing off, for me to feel bad about my own bending-powers!" Katara kept complaining.

"Katara, please be quiet now" Hua whispered through her teeth.

"I will not!" she stated, but as soon as she's spoken out again, a large masculine man leapt out of the bushes and grabbed Katara's arms quickly.

"Hey!" she complained, trying to get loose.

Hua looked around as more men approached them, looking just as scary and masculine as the first one; she got to her feet and quickly got into a bending-position.

One of the men ran towards her, it felt as if the ground was cracking under his feet from the great weight, he was just about to attack Hua, when she quickly bended some water from the river and pushed the man away, but the blow from the water was so powerful that she stumbled backwards.

Though she never fell to the ground, someone grabbed her before she fell and he helped her to her legs, though quickly and roughly he turned her around, having a good grip at her wrists.

"I'll save you from the pirates" a very dissatisfied Zuko was holding her, she thought she heard him growl under his breath and he stared at her with an angry look.

Katara got chained to a large tree near their boats, by some of the men, which Zuko has addressed as pirates. Hua was cuffed instead and placed next to Zuko and the rest of the pirates.

"Tell me where he is, and I won't hurt you or your brother" Zuko demanded, looking straight at Katara, while he had a good grip on Hua's left arm, squeezing it tightly, making her wince, yet he didn't quite care this time.

"Go jump in the river!" Katara frowned, and looked away from the Prince.

Zuko let go of Hua and smiled at Katara, acting kindly towards her "Try to understand; I need to capture him to restore something I've lost, my honour", he walked up to her as he spoke, and then walked behind the tree; his behaviour felt slightly tempting to Hua, her heart beat faster, though she also felt anger that he would treat a more or less strange girl like this, compared to how he normally treated Hua.

"Perhaps in exchange I can restore something you lost?" Zuko then whispered in Katara's ear, still standing half behind the tree, he then found out a small necklace, which was blue with a circle-pendant on it. Hua guessed it belonged to Katara. Zuko held it up on front of her.

"My mother's necklace" Katara said in surprise as she noticed the necklace in Zuko's hand, then he walked away from Katara, waving her necklace in a carefree manner in front of her, before walking up to Hua again.

"How did you get that!" Katara complained.

"I didn't steal it if that's what you're wondering" Zuko bluntly answered, then his voice grew serious again "Tell me where he is!"

"No!" Katara shouted.

"Enough of this necklace-garbage, you promised us the scroll" the pirate captain said demanding, as he looked at Zuko.

Zuko looked at the pirates, then he took out the water-scroll from his belt, holding in his hand he created a flame in the other, almost setting the scroll on fire.

"I wonder how much money this is worth" he said, look threatening at the pirates who all gasped when he did.

"A lot, apparently" he grinned, loving the fact that he would be in charge as long as he had the scroll.

Katara tried to make eye-contact with Hua, but she didn't seem interested at all; Katara sighed, figuring Hua was angry for yelling at her, she couldn't really blame her. But it wasn't only _that _which bothered Hua, the fact that Zuko almost showed interest in Katara made her blood boil inside of her.

"Now you help me find what I want, and you'll get this back; and everyone goes home happy. Search the woods for him!" Zuko demanded.

The captain couldn't really do anything but obey what Zuko told him to, he waved his hand and his pirate crew followed him, soon they'd all disappeared into the woods.

Zuko then looked at Hua when they were gone; his gaze was strict, almost like an older brother's.

"Why did you run away!" he snarled.

"I didn't, you two practically disappeared while I looked away, I just didn't want to waste my time, therefore I went for a walk in the forest, and stumbled upon that _girl _over there" Hua sneered and looked angrily at Katara for a short while, then back at Zuko.

"I've been generous to you lately Hua, don't you appreciate my actions? Am I not giving you enough?" he started to circle around her, almost like a vulture around its prey.

"Did you listen to anything I just said?" she looked at him as he kept walking around her.

Iroh was standing next to Katara by the tree, not wanting to get involved in Zuko's affair this time.

"You're ungrateful, you know that!" Zuko growled at her.

"That's it! If you keep insulting me without listening to what I'm saying, I really _am _going to run away for good!" Hua frowned at him, she was sick and tired of Zuko always getting angry at her, for whatever she did, not wanting to discuss further she sat down on the ground, staring straight ahead, with an angry glare.

Zuko sighed in irritation and walked away from her.

After about 4 hours, it finally turned day and the pirates got back; with both Aang and Katara's older brother Sokka.

Zuko took out the water-scroll with an evil grin "Nice work" he said as he approached them.

Katara looked at her friends in surprise and started feeling a bit guilty as she said "Aang, this is all my fault."

Aang, being the kind kid he is, said "No Katara, it isn't."

Iroh on the other hand, still standing beside Katara wasn't agreeing "Yeah, it kind of is."

"I couldn't agree more" Hua said, still sitting in the same position on the ground, and still as angry as before.

"Give me the boy!" Zuko demanded, looking at the pirates.

"You give _us _the scroll" the captain said.

"You're really gonna hand over the Avatar for a stupid piece of parchment!" it was Katara's brother Sokka, who now spoke.

"Don't listen to him. He's trying to turn us against each other!" Zuko warned at pointed at Sokka.

"So, your friend is the Avatar?" the captain asked and looked at the small bald monk with the arrow on his head.

"He sure is, and I'll bet he'll fetch a lot more on the black market then that fancy scroll" Sokka kept going, actually trying to turn the two enemies against each other.

Zuko frowned and pointed at Sokka in threatening way "Shut your mouth, you water tribe peasant!"

"Yeah Sokka, you really should shut your mouth" Aang agreed, seeming a bit nervous by Sokka's idea.

"I'm just sayin', it's bad business sense. Just imagine how much the Fire Lord would pay for the Avatar. You guys would be set for life!" Sokka continued, his voice sounding confessing to the pirates.

The pirate captain quickly made up his mind; he then pointed towards Zuko and shouted "Keep the scroll! We can buy a hundred with the reward we will get for the kid."

Hua looked after the pirates as they started leaving with the Avatar and Katara's brother, then she looked up at Zuko whose expression was pretty scary by now, he looked like he would explode any second.

"You'll regret breaking a deal with me" Zuko whispered in a dangerous voice.

Then he and his soldiers quickly bend a great wave of fire towards the pirates' feet, which made them jump out of the way in fear of getting burned.

One of the pirates then runs towards Zuko and his soldiers, he throws some small bombs at them as they keep firing torrents of fire at them, the small bombs happened to be filled with smoke, and soon Zuko and his soldiers were covered in a large cloud of smoke, not able to see a thing.

Hua, being, in the middle of the smoke as well, looked around trying to find a way out of there. Suddenly she felt someone loose her cuffs and her hands were free, when she looked behind her she saw Iroh for smiled kindly at her.

"Thanks Iroh" she said and got up from her seat, then she ran out of the smoke together with Iroh.

When she looked back she was able to hear a great tumult in there, pirates leapt into the smoke to attack the Fire Nation soldiers.

She figured there would be a great battle going on in there as the smoke started to spread further.

Hua then started bending water into a great water-whip and pushes it with great power towards the smoke, though not sure if she would hit anything at all, not even sure _who_ she would hit. Though she figured she hit someone; as she suddenly heard a few men, almost, scream in surprise when they were hit by her whip.

The smoke was starting to fade away and soon Hua noticed a few pirates and soldiers lying on the ground, close to each other, she figured those were the ones she had hit a while ago, then she looked at Zuko who was standing in a threatening pose in front of the pirate captain.

Iroh ran in between the two men, before they were going to fight once more.

"Are you two so busy fighting you cannot see your own ship has set sail?" Iroh shouted as he pushed them apart.

"We have no time for your proverbs, Uncle!" Zuko said, as he was prepared to fight the captain again.

"It's no proverb!" Iroh said and pointed at the pirates' ship, which Aang and his friends had stolen and was sailing off with.

"Bleeding hog-monkeys!" the pirate captain burst out and quickly ran down the forest-edge near the river, following his ship.

Zuko looked after the captain, then he started laughing in a very mocking voice as he pointed after the captain.

That's when he suddenly noticed the pirate captain and his crew had stolen _his _boat, and Zuko's smile quickly disapperared.

The pirates were now laughing mockingly at Zuko who got angry "Hey! That's my boat!" he quickly ran after them as they followed the Avatar down the river.

Iroh was still standing with Hua and looked at her as he scratched his chin "Maybe it should be a proverb", Hua slightly shrugged but felt pleasure in seeing Zuko dash after his own boat like that.

"Come on uncle!" he shouted at Iroh who quickly ran after him.

Hua shook her head and then jumped into the river, it seemed like she had dived underneath the water. But then she quickly got up to the surface, standing on a wave as she moved her hands back and forth. She looked after the boats and then quickly moved towards them; she looked like she was water-skating, or more likely surfing, on the wave.

She had already guessed she would never catch up with any of them just by running on the ground; therefore she had been quick and chosen to follow them on the water.

She quickly surfed past Iroh and Zuko, which the Prince wasn't too happy about, she could practically hear him growl at her.

Instead she gave him a satisfied smile and kept going, that's when she noticed the waterfall in front the boats.

"Oh no" she murmured, then she quickly surfed past the pirates in Zuko's boat, causing a great wave to make the boat tip back and forth for some time, though it kept sailing after Aang and the others.

She bend the water towards the riverside and stood only a few steps away from the edge of the great waterfall, the boat was coming closer and she figured she would have to do something.

She took a very deep breath and walked a bit closer to the water; then she started bending the water against the stream back to where it came from; trying to resist the boat in falling off the waterfall.

She noticed as the boat got closer, though slower this time due to her bending, that Aang and Katara had started doing the same, catching the hint. Now all three benders worked together; Aang and Katara on the boat and Hua from the riverside, to push the boat away from the waterfall.

It was a hard task though, the stream was powerful and hard to control even for Hua, who had been training her bending since she was a kid.

They soon made the boat turn to the side as it slowed even more down, by the edge of the waterfall and then it was completely still.

But suddenly the Fire Nation boat, sailed by the pirates, was coming closer and within short time the boat was crashing toward the pirate ship, making both of them sail closer to the waterfall, the pirate ship suddenly fell down from there and was crashed by the rocks on the bottom.

But the kids aboard was quickly saved by the edge of the waterfall by Aang's flying bison, Hua sighed in relief as she saw they were okay, then she completely let go of the water, making Zuko's boat drop down the waterfall with great speed as well.

Hua saw the Avatar and his friends fly away from the place, she managed to see them smile down at her as a thank you, she slightly smiled back and then looked down at the river beneath the waterfall.

The pirates were floating around in the water, trying to get up from there again.

Zuko and Iroh had finally caught up with Hua and Zuko stopped right next to her, looking down at his crashed boat.

"My boat!" he frowned.

Iroh was panting for a while but when he finally regained his breath he started laughing.

"Hehe, Prince Zuko, you're really going to get a kick out of this. The missing lotus tile was in my sleeve the whole time!" he announced with a big grin as he held the tile out in his hand.

Hua rolled with her eyes. Zuko was trying to control his angry and fast breathing; quickly he shoved the tile out of Iroh's hand and threw it out from the waterfall with great power.

Hua looked after the tile for a short time, then she looked at Zuko, seeming a bit nervous.

"I am _seriously _starting to doubt whether or not I should lock you up for 24 hours straight, with no sleep. No food. No water. No nothing!" Zuko said as he pulled Hua close to him, though not very gentle, he was very rough this time.

"Don't say this is my fault, I just _saved _the Avatar!" she complained and tried to pull away from Zuko, put he was too strong for her.

"I don't care; he got away that's what matters!" Zuko shouted and took a firm hold around Hua's waste and with one great movement he shoved her over his shoulder, carrying her that way.

Hua squealed as he started walking with her over his shoulder, she hit and kicked wildly to get loose but without luck. Zuko had a good grip around her and he certainly didn't want to let go for the world.

For half the way Hua was screaming and kicking, still desperately trying to get loose, but as they got back to the quay Hua was too exhausted and relaxed again. She had her arms crossed the whole time, making an angry expression all along.

Iroh was walking right behind Zuko and kept looking at Hua, a bit concerned.

"I think you might've made my nephew in a bad mood" he suggested in a whispery voice.

"Oh really? I didn't realize he had such mood swings" she said sarcastically.

"Then I guess that dress won't be necessary?" he asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not just letting this pass" she warned, slightly looking back at Zuko, who seemed to be enjoying this way of carrying his friend.

His eyes couldn't help but slightly wander towards her behind more than once, even his hand had started to slide up her thigh towards her butt.

"Let. Go." She frowned when she felt his hand move closer and her cheeks turned pink in embarrassment.

Zuko didn't quite listen at first, but had to do as he was told when suddenly Hua shoved her knee into his chest with all her strength.

He still wore his armor though, but it still felt as a hard kick anyways.

"Stupid Prince of a stupid Nation!"

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**C'mon did you really think Zuko would let Hua get away with disappearing like that? xD;**

**Nope he wouldn't, but he sure as he is turning perv ;P He so wants her, but still finds her damn annoying *sigh* Poor Hua n_n;;**

**The next chapter will be more lovey-dovey :)**

**Yesh! I will include the dress! x'D**


	11. Inner & Outer Scars

**This is a chapter I've been waiting for, the moment of revealasation! Yes, Hua is wearing the dress! xD**

**This chapter circles around the episode of ATLA called The Storm, I'm not saying anything but that.. Except that it's gonna be heartbreaking, in more ways than one though!**

**I might be able to finish Book 1 by the end of (at least) this month, if I'm not faster though :b**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

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The next day Zuko was busier with finding the Avatar than ever before, being so close to capturing yesterday, had made him want more; he had to capture the boy completely this time.

He was looking out at the water through his telescope trying to spot the last Airbender, Hua was locked up in her new room, Zuko had let her stay in there this time, but the door got locked and she wouldn't get out, because of her behaviour yesterday.

Iroh was standing by the edge of the ship, sniffing the air.

"There's a storm coming – a big one" he announced and looked up at the clear blue sky.

Zuko looked over at the older man and clapped his telescope together, walking up to him "You're out of your mind uncle, the weather's perfect. There is not a cloud in sight" he said pointing up at the sky, he was right; no clouds at all, the sky was as clear as could be in the middle of the spring.

"The storm is approaching from the north. I suggest we alter our course and head southwest" Iroh said looking at the northern direction with a suspicious look, then he turned to his nephew.

"We know the Avatar is traveling northward, so we will do the same" the Prince said with a serious look in his eyes.

"Prince Zuko, consider the safety of the crew" Iroh pleaded.

"The safety of the crew doesn't matter!" he shouted at his uncle, meanwhile Lieutenant Jee walked up on deck, he had apparently heard what Zuko had just said and looked displeased.

"Finding the Avatar is far more important than any individual's safety" he said, his voice sounding very stern as he did. He walked up to the Lieutenant until there were only a few inches between them. He gave him a mean glare as he stood before the older man.

Clearly he had forgotten everything about Hua, that or he truly didn't care.

He then walked away from the lieutenant and walks inside, shutting the hatch behind him as he did. The Lieutenant looked after the Prince with an unhappy expression on his face.

"He doesn't mean that, he's just all worked up" Iroh explained trying to soothe the Lieutenant's anger.

Zuko walked down towards Hua's room, just seeing what she might be up to; he figured she would be bored without being allowed to get outside today.

He found his key and unlocked her door, but when he opened it Hua was nowhere to be seen.

He went inside and looked around for her, then his eyes widened as he saw a female-shape behind a dress up-screen made out of paper, it wasn't see through; but the light shone just perfectly for Zuko to see the young woman's features.

He could hardly breathe as he noticed how curvy Hua actually had gotten through the years, her chest and bottom had gotten more womanly and she was quite slim. Her hair was loose for a change, he noticed; he almost felt the need to sneak closer and peak on her.

He felt arousal by watching her; he wondered how she would look like without the screen to cover her up.

He swallowed hard and almost felt sweat make its way down his forehead.

"It's very rude to barge in without knocking" Hua suddenly spoke, almost making Zuko jump in surprise, she looked out from the screen, only her head visible and she sighed a bit at Zuko.

Zuko didn't answer instead he just looked away from her, trying to regain his decentness.

"What did you want?" Hua asked impatiently.

"I just wanted to check up on you, to see if you were okay" he finally spoke.

Hua was surprised by his honest answer and bit her lip; "I am okay, thanks for caring" she murmured and looked away.

"Good, I just needed to ask" Zuko mumbled, then he stepped out of her room again, closing the door behind him. When he got out, standing in the hall, he looked around making sure he was alone, then he slapped himself right across his face.

"Stupid! What were you thinking just now!" he scolded himself and clenched his fists in front of himself, then he marched down the hallway to the exit again, he had to get some fresh air after this _arousal_.

When he got outside, he noticed there were plenty of dark clouds in the horizon, but they were heading quickly towards the ship.

Zuko guessed he had been wrong in his conclusion, but his pride told him not to admit his mistake, he couldn't.

"Oh! Looks like your uncle was right about the storm after all" Lieutenant Jee said in a scornful voice, some of the other crewmembers were on deck now, looking at the Prince as he walked further out on the deck.

"Lucky guess" Iroh suggested, trying to settle down the angry atmosphere and raised his hands in a timeout-manner.

"Lieutenant, you'd better learn some respect-" Zuko said and walked up to the Lieutenant's front "-or I will teach it to you" he threatened and pointed two fingers at the man's chest, once again his mean glare.

Then he walked away from Lieutenant Jee, the Lieutenant was starting to get tired of Prince Zuko's insulting.

"What do you know about respect?" he turned towards Zuko who suddenly stopped as he had spoken.

Iroh still tried to stop the conflict waving with his hands, but Jee wasn't finished at all.

"The way you talk to everyone around here, from your hard working crew to your esteemed uncle and your girlfriend shows you know nothing about respect!"

Iroh rubbed his forehead with a heavy sigh realizing it was too late.

Zuko's expression grew angrier, though he hadn't turned around at all. His body tensed by the Lieutenant's words and his eyebrow was twitching in a frustrated manner.

"You don't care about anyone but yourself! Then again, what should I expect from a spoiled prince?" he finally said, mockingly.

Then the Prince had enough, he turned around right away, assuming a firebending-fighting position. The crewmembers gasped slightly and Jee couldn't help but get a bit surprised himself, though he quickly followed Zuko and stood in the same position as he did.

"Easy now" Iroh warned them, but they didn't listen.

The two men walked closer to each other, slamming their wrist at one anothers', which made a noise as if steel hit steel just now, they were pressing their wrist-protectors towards the others with great power, not taking the gaze away from the others, a slight smoke had started coming from their wrists; showing how violent their hand-crossing had become.

Iroh quickly walked up to them, shoving their wrists apart in a fast movement "Enough!" he declared and easily pushed the two men away from each other, to prevent a new attack.

"We are all a bit tired from being at sea so long. I'm sure after a bowl of noodles everyone will feel much better" he suggested with a smile to break the ice.

The two men were still eying each other down, but after a short while Jee walked inside and Zuko walked up to the front of the ship.

"I don't need your help keeping order on my ship!" Zuko growled in annoyance, feeling as if he was being treated like a child.

Iroh walked up to him and gently placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder, trying to calm him down. But instead Zuko rudely shoved Iroh's hand aside and walked up to the bow of the ship. Iroh looked after Zuko with a sad expression, then he walked beneath deck again, figuring Zuko wanted to be left alone.

Meanwhile Hua had finished put on her dress, which she had been in the middle of when Zuko got into her room, she stepped over to a mirror and gazed at herself.

She almost blushed when she saw her reflection; she didn't expect the dress to fit so perfectly, it had a dark-red colour which looked the same as a dying campfire or even blood, yet to this dress it was beautiful. She corsage had been a bit hard to tie herself and she didn't want the help of Zuko, it was going to be a surprise after all, but she had done a nice job.

Though she thought her chest had gotten a bit bigger from the pressure of the corsage right under her breasts, and truly her cleavage was showing a bit as she had expected.

The sleeves were long and covered her palm, only letting her fingertips be visible when she stretched her arms. She found the dress matching her necklace perfectly, like they were made for each other, then she remembered her new lipstick.

She quickly got over to a small table where she had put it; she took it in her hand and stepped in front of the mirror again.

When she had painted her lips, she could hardly recognize herself, hadn't it been because of her blue markings in her face, she wouldn't have guessed she was looking at her reflection, but at a noble Fire Nation lady.

She twirled around, making the skirt of the dress move around with her in a dashing manner. She slightly giggled and looked at herself again, then she let her fingers slide through her lose hair, making sure it would sit nicely.

She decided to put on a cloak, since she figured it would be cold due to the changing in the weather, she walked up to the door, slightly pulling down at the handle, realizing Zuko didn't lock her door when he had left.

Who cared if he got angry? Hua had the perfect excuse anyways, so he couldn't be too angry with her again.

She walked up to the door next to her room and gently knocked at it, she waited for a while but with no response, she tried harder this time but nothing happened.

She sighed in annoyance, figuring Zuko wasn't in his room by now, instead she decided to go for a walk around the ship's inside, just until he got back, after all she hadn't seen much to the ship anyways.

She walked deep into the inner of the ship, until she wasn't sure of where she was, she suddenly heard a voice from an open door near her.

"General Iroh! We were just-" she figured it was one of the crewmembers nervously addressing Iroh, she walked closer as she heard Iroh speak.

"It's ok. May I join you?" he asked in a calm voice.

"Of course sir" the same crewmember spoke again, and she heard footsteps on something metal. It sounded like someone walking down some metal-stairs.

She got close to the room and gazed inside, it was the engine-room; the lieutenant was sitting by a fire, together with a few other crewmembers, the last person was Iroh who had just settled down in front of the fire himself.

Hua wondered what they had just talked about and decided to stay; she quietly sat down next to the open door, her back against the wall.

"Try to understand, my nephew is a complicated young man. He has been through much…" Iroh started.

Hua guessed the crewmembers had been talking about Zuko, that's why the Lieutenant sounded so nervous at first.

She closed her eyes as Iroh started his story.

"3 years ago, Prince Zuko had decided that he wanted to join us older generals in the war-chamber for our meeting with the Fire Lord. But the guards at the front door didn't let Zuko pass, so I showed him my kindness and let him in with me, realizing that he would be old enough to understand the conflicts involving the meeting and he himself had suggested that he should learn as much as possible about our country. But I warned him not to speak up, since he was a youngster and not allowed to."

Hua pictured a 13-years-old Zuko in her mind as she hugged her knees to get warmer; it was cold in the hallway after all.

"I took him with me and the meeting went as planned, one of the other generals was in the middle of showing a great battle-technique against the Earth Kingdom; his plan involved sacrificing a whole division only build up on recruits, he wanted to use them as bait while he and his division would attack from behind and overthrow the Earthbenders.

But Zuko found this an unfair plan and suddenly rose from his seat, saying that his plan was cruel and how they would betray the soldiers by sacrificing them."

Hua, still with her eyes shut, nodded in agreement of Zuko's decision back then, thinking he was right.

"Zuko was right, you see, but it was not his place to speak out, and there were dire consequences. After Zuko's outburst in the meeting, the Fire Lord became very angry with him. He said that Prince Zuko's challenge of the general was an act of complete disrespect, and there was only one way to resolve this-" Iroh explained.

"Agni Kai. A fire duel" the Lieutenant said in a dull voice, sounding horrified by what Iroh was telling him.

Hua's eyes were shut open and she bit down at her lip with great strength, she remembered how dangerous it had been when Zuko had fought Commander Zhao, in an Agni Kai. She felt her heart race faster.

"That's right. Zuko looked upon the old general he had insulted and declared that he was not afraid. But Zuko misunderstood. When he turned to face his opponent, he was surprised to see it was not the General-" Iroh said, his voice sounding gloomy, and Hua grew nervous about Iroh's seriousness.

It was unsual that he would be this serious, she was afraid of what might come next.

"Zuko had spoken out against a general's plan, but by doing so in the Fire Lord's war-room; it was the Fire Lord whom he had disrespected. Zuko would have to duel _his own father_!"

Hua gasped in surprise when she heard this, she quickly moved closer to the door, slightly peaking to look at the men. The Lieutenant gazed up at the door-opening and Hua quickly pulled her head back again, holding her breath for a little while.

"When Prince Zuko saw that it was his father who had come to duel him, he begged for mercy" Iroh continued then.

"Zuko knelt in front of the Fire Lord and apologized deeply for his action, but his father was not going to forgive him, instead he said to him 'You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher', the Fire Lord was merciful and firebended right towards his own son… I looked away, but his scream was horrifying."

Hua's heart stopped for more than 10 seconds, she stared out into the darkness and she felt hot tears burn in the corners of her eyes, within a short time she was crying, soundless though.

"I always thought that Prince Zuko was in a training accident" the Lieutenant spoke, abashed in Iroh's present.

"It was no accident. After the duel, the Fire Lord said that by refusing to fight, Zuko had shown shameful weakness. As punishment he was banished and sent to capture the Avatar. Only then could he return with his honor" Iroh then explained.

"So that's why he's so obsessed. Capturing the Avatar is the only chance he has of things returning to normal?" Lieutenant Jee guessed.

"Things will never return to normal. But the important thing is, the Avatar gives Zuko hope" Iroh finally said with a heavy sigh.

Hua had left her seat on the cold floor and was almost sprinting towards Zuko's room, lifting up at her dress not to fall in hit.

When she got to the door of his room, she swung it open and looked at Zuko, who was sitting in front of an altar; he was surprised when he saw Hua and quickly stood from his seat when he noticed she was crying.

"Hua? What is wrong?" he asked concerned and slowly walked towards her.

She didn't answer though, instead she ran right into Zuko's arms, at the exact same time as a thundercrack was heard from outside, just above the ship. Hua stood close to Zuko, her arms around his neck.

Zuko didn't quite understand what was happening but instead of questioning her, he held her close against him, feeling her shivering in fear and sadness.

He gently stroke her by the hair trying to make her calm down.

Then suddenly Iroh barged in "Zuko! Come quickly, our ship has been damaged by the lightning!" he sounded in a hurry.

Zuko looked down at Hua for a second, he gently stroke a tear near her eye away.

"I'll return soon" he promised in a whispery voice, then he ran outside with Iroh.

Hua looked after them in worry; she rubbed the tears away from her face with the sleeve of her dress, causing it to get wet. Then she took a good hold at her skirt again and ran after the men, wanting to know what was going on outside.

When Zuko got outside he hurried to Lieutenant Jee's side and shouted "Where were we hit!"

The Lieutenant looked around in confusion as the ship had begun to rock from side to side by the great waves "I don't know!" he shouted back.

"Look!" Iroh pointed up at the bridge tower where the smoke came from.

The two men gazed up at it, and noticed a man hanging in one hand from the rigging.

"The helmsman!" Zuko shouted.

Zuko and Jee quickly ran towards the ladder leading up to the bridge tower, Zuko was first, and right after came Jee.

They were hurrying since the helmsman possibly couldn't hold on forever and there was no chance when the next lightning would be.

By this time Hua had reached the exit, but decided not to get out in the bad weather, she looked around for Zuko and just managed to see him climb the ladder.

Hua then gazed at Iroh who was standing on the middle of the deck, suddenly she heard a thundercrack above them again and soon a lightning was about to reach the ship.

Iroh pointed his right hand up at the coming lightning and then pointing his left hand towards the water, forcing the lightning to hit the water beside them instead of the ship itself.

As he did so, the rough flash was seen nearby him, Hua had to close her eyes as that happened, but when she looked again, Iroh seemed to be alright. Though he seemed in quite a shock, so to speak, he was all covered in smoke from the lightning going through his body just now. But at least he seemed fine.

But suddenly Hua got other things on her mind when she suddenly heard a scream and forced herself to run out in the rainy weather, she gazed up at the smoking bridge tower, where the helmsman were falling from. But quickly somebody grabbed his hand; it was Zuko who had managed to catch the poor man. The Prince gently lowered the helmsman for Lieutenant Jee to grab him, he held him carefully, and then he gazed up at Zuko with a smile. Even Zuko was actually smiling after their good work together.

The men quickly got down from the ladder again and some of the crewmembers got over to the helmsman to see if he was okay, the man was fine, not even a scratch. Hua ran up to Zuko and embraced him again.

Zuko held his arms around the girl right away, figuring she would've worried.

"Why, Hua, you're soaking wet" he whispered in her ear, making shivers down her spine.

"I know, but it doesn't matter" he voice sounded relieving as she was resting her head on Zuko's shoulder.

When Hua let go of Zuko again, Zuko gazed up at the sky suddenly noticing the Avatar's flying bison soar through the great storm.

"The Avatar!" he burst out, looking very focused at him.

"What do you want to do, sir?" Lieutenant Jee asked, waiting for an order.

Zuko then gazed at Hua, who seemed to have turned sad; he looked up at the Avatar again.

"Let him go. We need to get this ship to safety" he declared calmly, pulling Hua close to him again, figuring she would need some comfort by now, after how she had cried earlier.

"Then we must head directly into the eye of the storm" Iroh said with a slight smile as he looked at the young couple, also being very proud of Zuko's decision.

The storm had started to soothe away as they moved closer to the eye of the storm, as Iroh had said.

"Uncle, I'm sorry" Zuko said as he looked out at the ocean.

"Your apology is accepted" Iroh kindly smiled and placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder, then he walked away figuring it would be a good time.

Zuko had then taken Hua up to the bow of the ship after Iroh had walked away from them, just to get a bit of privacy from the crew too.

"Hua, why where you crying so much before?" he asked in concern, his voice still whispery.

Hua felt embarrassed and looked at her feet "I heard Iroh tell Lieutenant Jee about how you got-" she bit down at her lip, not able to finish her sentence.

Zuko slightly sighed and took a hold of her chin "Don't do that, you'll end up destroying your lovely lips" he said and slightly tilting her head back to make her look at him.

"I'm not blaming you for overhearing the conversation, I think it's only fair that you know the story behind my scar, now that I know the story behind yours" he declared, gazing into her golden-brown eyes with curiosity, the kind of curiosity only a young man would show to such a beautiful young woman.

"Thank you Zuko, I just can't help but feel sorry for you" Hua said, a bit sad and discomfited by saying this, yet she still gently placed her fingertips on his cheek.

Zuko felt comfort in her warm touch and gently pulled her hand closer to his face, he slightly closed her eyes as Hua stared up at him.

Suddenly Zuko had his eyes fixated on something on the water in front of them, the water glowed blue and suddenly Aang's flying bison rises into the air and flies high above the heads on Zuko and Hua. Aang just managed to notice them and shared a direct gaze with them for a short while, before his bison flew up through a tunnel of clouds and towards the clear blue sky.

Zuko's expression was calm the whole time and he then looked at Hua who had her gaze turned downwards once again.

Then Zuko took a hold of her chin again and kissed her right on her lips; which made Hua's eyes grow wide in surprise, she felt her heart skip a beat by this, but didn't feel any pressure or any discomfort, so she actually happened to return the kiss, closing her eyes.

Iroh was standing near the entrance to the hall inside the ship, looking out at the young couple, as the rain had stopped and the sky seemed to clear up.

The first thing he noticed above them, was a full colorful rainbow**.**

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**Everyone: Awwwww~! or maybe *squeal and then noseblood***

**I know, I feel it too n_n Now you understand why I was so urgent with this chapter, and not to mention the title of it and my way of speaking "heartbreaking"**

**No they're not quite finished being lovey-dovey I think xD Watch out for next chapter O.O Even I don't know what's going to happen! Ö *lie***


	12. The Blue Spirit

**Gosh, this chapter was a royal pain in the ass, no kidding. It took forever for me to write, truly a whole day, since I had to think of all the details and trying to get as much from the cartoon into this fic, though without crapping the whole chapter up as well..**

**I'm never going to write such a long chapter again, it practically killed me - good thing Zuko isn't the Blue Spirit anymore in the first book -w-"**

**Though I'm afraid next chapter is gonna be just as hard for me *sigh***

**You better appreciate this T-T**

**But I must warn you, half of the P.O.V. is through Aang, but also Zuko's, Hua will appear near the end, I promise you a nice smoochy-smoocky ending, don't feel sad; she's gonna appear a lot more in the next chapter!**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

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Later Zuko had invited Hua inside his room, her dress had dried again as she had bended the water out of it again, when they got inside Zuko quickly closed the door behind them and looked Hua up and down.

He actually blushed heavily as he noticed the dress she was wearing; he had been too busy earlier to realize she was wearing something different.

"That dress... really suits you" he complimented with a slight smile.

"Thanks, Iroh actually bought for me at the market" Hua remarked, blushing.

Zuko went behind Hua, gently putting his arm around her waist while removing her hair from her neck with his other hand.

"I'm glad he did so, I like you wearing Fire Nation clothing" Zuko quietly chuckled near Hua's ear, making her shiver once again.

Zuko noticed this and smiled to himself, gently sliding his hand up towards her stomach.

"Do I affect you?" he whispered, Hua didn't answer but her gaze went away from Zuko's hand as he spoke.

Hua then quietly sighed "Zuko, I want to show you something" she explained and turned towards the Prince behind her.

Zuko apparently didn't understand what she meant, but he nodded, then he settled down on his bed; looking at her.

She walked up to him as she slightly pulled up at her skirt; Zuko felt a fire burn inside his stomach as she did so, having a hard time relaxing.

"I think you should see my burns, I figured it's not enough just knowing they're there, you should know how they look as well. So I'm not just playing you" she said and sat down besides Zuko on his bed.

Zuko felt a bit disappointed, having expected something different, yet he was also a bit curious of how bad Hua's legs might look.

The girl pulled her old bandages away from her legs and Zuko's eyes widened as he saw how bad her condition truly was; it looked like her skin was completely gone, the flesh on her legs was burned black and somewhere there was still open wounds. There was dried blood somewhere; Zuko found her legs looked like pure misery, that's when Zuko noticed her knees were completely fine, figuring it was only her entire lower legs which were injured. Zuko looked away when he for a moment thought he saw an glimpse of white bone.

He clenched his fists, now feeling anger at whoever did this to his friend.

"Zuko" Hua said and gently placed her hands on his fists "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's just-" Zuko began almost shouting out in anger.

"Shush, don't think about it. This belongs to the present" Hua assured him "But I would like it if you could give me some new bandages, I don't remember the last time I changed them myself."

"Of course" Zuko nodded and looked in a drawer, he found two fresh bandages and handed them to Hua, she started wrapping them around her legs.

Zuko, still standing in front of her, looked away and started growing a bit more serious.

"Could you leave me? I have some business to attend to" Zuko suddenly said, changing the atmosphere completely.

Hua had just managed to finish her work with the bandages, then she looked up at Zuko with a strange look, not understanding what was going on.

"Um... Okay, I'll be going then" she said in confusion and walked up to the door, she took the handle but before leaving she looked back at Zuko, who was now standing with his back turned to her, she sighed and left his room.

Zuko looked towards the for a while, the he walked up to the same drawer again and pulled out at it, a black suit was lying in it, together with a white and blue mask; resembling a kind of inhuman, or even a spirit. He looked at it with a serious look.

Hua had returned to her room, she decided to take off her dress not wanting to wear it anymore. There was no point if Zuko did not want to see her anymore, she put on her normal outfit again and rubbed away the lipstick, then she settled down on her bed.

It has been days since Hua had been talking to Zuko, since that day Hua had been in her room most of the time, but whenever she was out Zuko wasn't around.

Hua had started to wonder wherever he might be, she walked up to Iroh figuring he might know.

"Iroh, where is Zuko going every day?" she asked, they had started to get to warmer seas and the sun was shining brightly.

Iroh was standing at the bow of the ship looking over at the ocean, when he heard Hua's voice he turned around.

"I do not know, he has been disappearing a lot from the ship lately" he declared with a sigh "I thought he might be with you, but I guess he isn't."

"He hadn't even spoken or looked at me since the storm" Hua looked away.

She wished she knew what was going on.

"Please, join me at my Pai-Sho game. Maybe that will help you think of something else" Iroh smiled encouraging and gently pulled Hua with him inside the steering-room.

When they got inside the steering-room, Iroh and Hua looked towards Zuko who was standing with Lieutenant Jee, though he didn't turn around as they entered. Hua sighed and was guided towards Iroh's Pai-Sho table by the wall; a few crewmembers were already waiting for him.

"We haven't been able to pick up the Avatar's trail since the storm" Lieutenant Jee announced as he was looking at a world-map with Prince Zuko standing right behind him.

"But, if we continue heading northeast-" he began, but stopped as a great shadow was visible right next to the ship, it blocked the light in the entire room.

Zuko looked out of the window noticing a huge Fire Navy ship, right next to his ship.

"What do they want?" Zuko exclaimed in irritation.

"Perhaps a sporting game of Pai-Sho?" Iroh said hopefully, Hua rolled her eyes at him but still slightly smiled.

A couple of soldier from the other ship gets aboard Zuko's ship and enters the steering-room, a herald rolls out a scroll for Zuko to see; it's a wanted-poster of the Avatar. When Zuko saw the poster his expression turned really sour.

Hua looked up at the poster, then back at Zuko, swallowing nervously at his expression.

"The hunt for the Avatar has been given prime importance" the herald announced and lowered the scroll, "all information regarding the Avatar must be reported directly to Admiral Zhao."

"Zhao has been promoted? Well, good for him!" Iroh said as he moved one of the tiles on the Pai-Sho board.

Hua noticed his move and looked at the tiles, wondering what she should do next.

"I've got nothing to report to Zhao. Now get off my ship and let us pass!" Zuko commanded the men.

"Admiral Zhao is not allowing ships in or out of this area" the herald declared.

"Off my ship!" Zuko frowned in anger.

The herald took the hint and quietly left the ship with his comrades, just in time for Hua to move one of her tiles on the Pai-Sho board.

"Excellent! You're good at this game young Hua" Iroh complimented and moved another of his tiles, clearly he had won "But you still have a long way to go" he smiled.

Hua smiled back at the older man and shrugged "You won."

Zuko then walked out of the steering-room with heavy steps, not giving Hua a single look. She sighed and looked away from the Prince.

Later Zuko was spending time on the deck, practicing his firebending once again, Hua had gone to her room hours ago and then sun had started going down.

Iroh got out to Zuko, seeming a bit concerned at his strange mood. When Zuko saw Iroh he paused his training and looked at him.

"Is everything okay? It's been almost an hour and you haven't given the men an order" Iroh said, sounding worried.

"I don't care what they do" he said and looked away, gazing at the sea.

"Don't give up hope yet. You can still find the Avatar before Zhao" Iroh said heartening.

Zuko quickly turned to Iroh again, his face painted with fear and desperation "How, Uncle? With Zhao's resources it's just a matter of time before he captures the Avatar!"

He then turned towards the sea again "My honor, my throne, my country, I'm about to lose them all" he whispered in anxiousness.

"I think you're a bit too gloomy about this my nephew, you still have your best friend by your side, and you have me. Both I and Hua will help and support you in the ways we can" Iroh kept on, trying to give Zuko some hope.

"Hua will not help me" Zuko sighed and looked down.

"She will. But maybe not in the ways you picture" Iroh suggested, then he quietly left his nephew to himself.

Zuko looked after his uncle, then once again gazing at the sea, not sure what Iroh meant about this.

But he was sure about one thing, he had to find out what Zhao was up to by now.

Within half an hour Zuko had dressed up in his black suit, making him look like a ninja. He put on the blue mask and attached a couple of twin-swords to his back.

Zuko took a small boat from the inside of the ship and rowed away from his own ship, figuring the ship would stay still for at least 24 hours straight, since he hadn't given anyone orders on where they were going anyways.

He rowed inlands and got to a beach, he knew that not far away would a large Fire Nation stronghold be, and Zhao would be there as well. He had known from an earlier visit that Zhao _had _captured the Avatar, but he intended to get him back at all costs.

Zuko got up to the stronghold, though he had to find a way inside; there was a large wall around the whole place, the only way in was through a large gate and it was strongly guarded.

That's when he noticed a wagon coming towards the gate; he saw his opportunity and ran swiftly towards the wagon. Zuko managed to slide in under the wagon and got a hold of the underside of it. He was riding under the wagon as it reached the gate.

"Halt!" it was the voice of a guard; Zuko figured they were in front of the gate by now.

He still held on to the wagon and slightly looked out to see feet coming closer towards the wagon, the guards were observing the wagon by walking around it, making sure the man driving the wagon wasn't smuggling any enemies or weapon inside.

"All clear" the guard announced and went up behind the wagon,Zuko figured he had to get away quickly, luckily there was no guards on the right side of the wagon and he climbed up on it, clinging to the cloth that was the roof on the wagon. This was just in time when the guard looked under the wagon, nothing to observe underneath it.

"All clear. Go in" the guard announced and walked away from the wagon, opening the gate for it; Zuko quickly jumped in, in the back of the wagon, hiding with the food and supplies.

Zuko manage to see there were actually three gates, before he was even inside the stronghold; they were large and thick and made of metal, making it impossible to break through.

As soon as the wagon got inside the courtyard, he jumped out of the wagon and hid himself in the shadows, it had turned nighttime long ago making him almost invisible to anyone around him; this being very good thing, since half the courtyard was filled with Fire Nation soldiers.

He quickly managed to run towards a balcony, with two large bonfire pots, one on each side of the balcony; Zuko quickly noticed the man standing on the balcony, Admiral Zhao.

"We are the sons and daughters of fire! The superior element! Until today, only one thing stood in our path to victory. The Avatar! I am here to tell you that he is now my prisoner!" Zhao announced to the soldiers, and they started cheering at him.

Zuko managed to crawl up on the roof on the balcony without being noticed by anybody at all. He stopped on the middle of the roof, pressing his body against it as he heard of what Zhao was saying.

"This is the year Sozin's Comet returns to grant us its power!" Zhao shouted, and once again the soldiers cheered loudly.

"This is the year the Fire Nation breaks through the walls of Ba-Sing Se and burns the city to the ground!" he kept on.

Zuko quickly got inside the fortress, sneaking down the long hallway; he quickly stopped when he later saw a Fire Nation soldier walking his way, the soldier looked surprised as he saw the intruder in front of him.

He quickly took a good hold around his spear, but Zuko was too quick, he got his swords in his palms and raced towards the soldier. Zuko jumped when the soldier was approaching, the soldier stopped and looked up at the young man, Zuko flew behind him and quickly kicked him in the back of the head.

The soldier's helmet flew off and he almost stumbled forward, though quickly regaining his balance.

Zuko landed behind him and quickly turned at the soldier again, before the soldier even managed to turn around Zuko used the handle on his swords to knock him out.

The soldier fell unconscious at once and before Zuko started walking again, he thought he heard some more soldiers not far away, he figured they would get in his way if he didn't do something.

He looked at the helmet the unconscious soldier had been wearing and kicked it down the hallway. He heard some mumbling from one of the side and another soldier walked towards him.

When the soldier came up to Zuko, the only thing the three remaining soldiers heard was a scream and then a gout of flames coming down the hallway, making the soldiers wonder what had happened to their comrade. Two of the soldiers decided to take a look, leaving one soldier left guiding the door.

As they approached the different hallway, they were surprised to see not only one, but two soldiers, the ones who went before, where hanging in a robe from the ceiling.

When the two remaining soldiers looked up, they saw an intruder, The Blue Spirit, at the ceiling, but before they were able to react, he jumped down at them, knocking them out immediately.

Zuko quickly appeared down the hall, looking at the last soldier; the soldier looked in surprise at the masked man and was about to pull out his alarm-horn to signal everyone else in the fortress.

Zuko then quickly threw one of his swords at the guard; it hit the horn in his hand making him drop it. The guard gulped in nervousness and quickly looked at Zuko. He was already in front of the guard knocking him out as well.

Then he opened the great metal-door the soldiers had been guarding all along, when he opened it he saw the Avatar stand in the middle of the room, chained to two great rock-pillars.

Zuko approached the boy in a hurry; Aang looked very nervous at the intruder and was almost shaking in his place.

Zuko took out his swords, which caused Aang to start screaming in fear, with one swift movement Zuko had cut his handcuffs.

When Aang opened his eyes again, he looked surprised at his free wrists, Zuko then cut the chains around his feet off as well.

"Who are you? What's going on? Are you here to rescue me?" Aang asked puzzled by this strange man.

Zuko didn't answer, not giving away his identity; instead he walked towards the door again and opened it. But before he walked out, he motioned to Aang as a 'follow me', Aang figured it was his only opportunity to get away from this place, to trust this man he didn't know.

"I'll take that as a yes" Aang mumbled and followed him out in the hallway.

The man went past the gagged and bound guards, he hadn't just knocked them out without tying them up, fearing they would signal Admiral Zhao whenever they awoke, he didn't risk that.

Aang looked at the guards in confusion as he walked past them, still following this strange man.

Then suddenly the young boy stopped as he heard frog noises very close.

"My frogs! Come back! And stop thawing out!" he exclaimed, collecting some of the unfrozen frogs in his arms, but his rescuer couldn't wait for this and quickly got back for him. He pulled Aang up by his collar and carried him with him outside.

"Wait! My friends need to suck on those frogs!" Aang screamed.

Zuko didn't have time for this and he luckily found a hole down the sewer system, leading underneath the entire fortress.

Zuko waved Aang with him and jumped down there; Aang shrugged and followed him right away.

They were walking in water to their ankles, there was a ceiling above them, they were able to hear footsteps from up there, figuring they would be guards.

When the guards finally disappeared, Zuko crawled up a small ladder and opened another hole in the ceiling where he crawled up, being somewhere in the courtyard again, Aang was right behind him, not wanting to be left behind.

They quickly ran across the courtyard, still staying in the shadows, afraid someone might spot them if they stayed out in the open. Zuko got a rope with a hook on the end, as they got to the wall; he swung the rope towards the top of the wall.

When the hook was stuck on the edge of the wall, Zuko looked at Aang and nodded at the rope for him to climb it. Aang did as he was ordered to, and Zuko climbing the rope after him, being right underneath him.

They didn't get too far though, suddenly a soldier on the wall shouted;

"They're on the wall!" The soldier stood right above them and quickly cut the rope with a sword.

Zuko figured they already knew he had freed the Avatar, though it mattered not anymore, they were falling towards the ground again.

Aang quickly airbended the air around them, making them get a softer landing on the ground.

"The Avatar has escaped! Close all the gates immediately!" Zhao was shouting, from the balcony.

When they got to their feet again, Zuko looked towards the closing gates and pointed at it with his sword, as a gesture of saying they should get to it fast.

"Stay close to me!" Aang shouted, looking at the disguised Zuko.

They were running towards the gates, which had started to close in front of them. A bunch of guards were closing in on them from the front with their spears, cutting them off.

Aang jumped in front of Zuko and quickly airbended a great wave of air against the guards, making them fly up in the air, making the way clear for the two escapees to continue.

Zuko suddenly stopped as a couple of guards attacked him from both sides, he had to fight back, not able to run away. Aang on the other hand was rushing towards the closing gates, but as he looked back at Zuko he stopped, unsure if he should leave his savior behind.

As more guards approached the Blue Spirit, Aang figured he couldn't let him stay behind, the gates closed behind him, but instead he rushed to Zuko's side ready to help him out.

Zuko was still fighting furiously, that's when Aang airbended the many guards away from Zuko. Then he ran up to him again and used a spear he had taken from one of the guards to airbend the Blue Spirit up in the air, making him fly towards the wall. Zuko got up there, but was quickly surrounded by guards from each side.

Aang jumped after him and wrapped his legs around Zuko waist as he was twirling the spear around in a helicopter-manner, making them fly off the first wall.

The managed to fly to the second wall, even though Aang had to focus very much on this twirling-work, the guards beneath them were throwing spears at them, making it harder for them to fly, but Zuko managed to kick and punch them away from them.

But as they had gotten to the second wall, they fell down on top of it, Aang being too distracted from all the spears. When they looked around a couple of guards were rushing up to the wall, Aang ran towards a few of them coming from one side, Zuko took care of the rest from the other side; managing to throw a few of them off the wall.

That's when they saw tons of soldiers rushing towards the wall, with something that looked like bamboo-ladders; they managed to run up against the wall, while holding the bamboo-ladder making it their support for not falling down.

Aang and Zuko quickly noticed as the soldiers got up to the edge and quickly the pushed them down again. Aang suddenly got an idea, as the soldiers were away from the ladders; Aang grabbed a hold of the two empty ladders and carried it with him towards the third ladder next to Zuko.

"Here, take this. Jump on my back!" he said and threw one of the ladders to Zuko, who caught it quickly. Aang stepped up on the ladder which still stood against the wall, Zuko jumped on Aang's back as he had told him to, both boys held on to the remaining two ladders.

They practically fell towards the last wall; Aang then took the second ladder and jumped on it, using the ladders as gigantic stilts.

"Gimme the next one!" Aang ordered as they were getting closer to the wall, Zuko gave it to him and Aang got on to the last ladder.

They didn't get far though when one of the guards underneath them suddenly set the ladder on fire, the fire spread quickly up towards Aang and Zuko.

Aang gulped and quickly leapt from the ladder before the fire could reach them, he was just about to grab ahold on the edge of the third wall, but he lost grip pretty fast, Zuko then tried to grab it himself but also lost hold on to it.

This caused the boys to fall down from the wall landing in between the second and third gate, surrounded by guards. Zuko, standing in front of the Avatar, took out his swords immediately. The guards quickly firebended at them and Aang rapidly turned the two boys around, making him stand in the front and Zuko behind him.

He quickly airbended a large air-ball around the two of them, preventing the fire to reach them.

"Hold your fire!" Admiral Zhao approached the guards" The Avatar must be captured alive!"

As Zuko heard this he quickly got a hold of his swords and crossed them right in front of Aang's neck, as a threat, he figured Zhao would have to open the gate at some point if he threatened to kill the Avatar.

Zhao looked angrily at the Blue Spirit and gritted his teeth, they stared at each other for a moment before Zhao spoke "Open the gate!" he ordered.

An officer came up to Zhao "Admiral! What are you doing!" he yelled.

"Let them out, now!" Zhao commanded in a higher voice this time, making sure everyone had heard him.

Zuko heard the gate starting to open behind him; he started backing out of the fortress still with his swords at the Avatar's neck.

He kept backing as he held on to Aang, even when he got out from the fortress and even when he was down the road preparing to leave completely, he figured it was way too easy to just leave Zhao's place without him having a back-up plan.

Zuko slowly started to lower his swords from Aang's neck, though not removing them completely; but when he did so he managed to see a man shoot an arrow right towards his head, the arrow came too quickly, Zuko hadn't even the time to think of dodging it, before it actually hit his mask pretty roughly.

It had done greater damage than it might've seemed, Zuko was knocked out cold and his mask fell off as soon as the arrow had hit his forehead, he had let go of Aang and dropped his swords.

Aang looked frightened behind him, the Blue Spirit's mask was still on his face though, but the knot tying it to his face had gotten open, revealing some of his face.

Aang just managed to see the scar of Zuko and his eyes widened at this.

He quickly turned towards the fortress and created a large dust cloud in front of him and Zuko, buying them some time.

Aang wasn't quite sure who the Blue Spirit was, so he knelt in front of him and gently pulled off the mask from his face, but as he saw he was right and the man beneath the mask actually _was _Zuko, he got startled and fell backwards.

He quickly got to his feet and was ready to run away, but he didn't get too far before he stopped again.

His eyes filled with compassion for the man who had just saved his life, no matter if it had been on his own behalf, he still felt he needed to repay him somehow.

He looked back at the fortress, a bunch of guards were already running towards them and the dusk-cloud was starting to soothe away.

When the guards came up to the place, there were no one there. Aang had acted quickly and taken Zuko with him into the woods, he had made sure to get far away from the fortress, making sure the Fire Navy soldiers wouldn't follow them at all.

Aang had gently placed Zuko on the cold forest-bed, making sure he would lie comfortably. He didn't want to leave him just yet, the boy figured he should stay just a little while and figuring out how Zuko would react when he awoke.

Though Aang didn't know he had to wait until it turned day again, he had hugging his knees the entire time.

When Zuko had awoken, he looked up at the Avatar sitting beside him, his vision a bit blurry.

"You know what the worst part about being born over a hundred years ago is? I miss all the friends I used to hang out with. Before the war started, I used to always visit my friend Kuzan. The two of us, we'd get in and out of so much trouble together. He was one of the best friends I ever had and he was from the Fire Nation, just like you" Aang said slightly smiling down at the Fire Nation Prince.

"If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends too?" he asked, his smile slightly turned wider and a bit friendlier.

But when Zuko's vision got clear again, he jumped to his feet right away; firebending straight at Aang, making him flee through the forest, jumping from tree to tree.

Zuko looked after him with a slight sigh, he found the Avatar's words quite… fascinating in a way, but he wasn't too sure if it though.

When he finally returned to the ship, no one was in sight, luckily; Zuko figured it was still very early in the day and no one had even awoken at all.

Zuko had put on his Blue Spirit mask as he had crossed the sea, just in case _someone _would discover his boat.

But as he finally jumped aboard his ship again, he was met with a surprised Hua, who was standing almost before him.

Her expression suddenly changed as if she had recognized him, she quietly walked up to him, but Zuko felt a bit nervous about what she might say, he backed a bit down when she approached.

She didn't say a thing instead she gently touched the Blue Spirit's mask, Zuko closed his eyes feeling as if she was touching _his _face.

Zuko's breathing got a bit faster and more irregular, he was afraid he felt the arousal come up again, he almost stopped breathing.

But his mind quickly changed to something different, when he felt Hua starting to remove his mask, and he quickly grabbed her by the wrist.

She slightly gasped in surprise, though she didn't let go completely, she gazed up at the black eyes of the Blue Spirit's mask, pleading him to remove the mask just a tad.

Zuko felt he could trust her in this and let her do as she pleased; Hua slightly pulled at his mask, but as if she didn't want to see his true face she only removed the mask, being able to just see his mouth.

She felt her heart beat faster by her own actions, but she didn't back down; she mildly placed her lips on his, tenderly kissing his.

Zuko seemed a tad surprised by her move, but he actually enjoyed it, he put his hands on her waist and gently pulled her closer, returning the kiss. It was first now he had realized how soft her lips actually were; it felt like kissing a piece of heaven.

The whole time Hua made sure to hold on to his mask, still covering half of his face. Then they quietly departed, Zuko putting on the mask properly as he found it necessary to change clothing quickly, they didn't share a single word.

Hua on the other hand didn't think of this as bad, she somewhat knew what he had been up to and she couldn't help but smile at his improvement.

Then she looked at Iroh who had come out from below deck, figuring Zuko had heard him coming that's why he quickly fled.

When Zuko had finally gotten his normal clothing back on, his boat was being pulled in by the ship.

Iroh had sat down near the edge of the ship, starting to play the Tsungi-horn.

When Zuko got back on the deck, he walked right past Iroh, seeming awfully tired, but as he passed Hua, he took a good hold around her wrist; pulling her with him.

"Where have you been, Prince Zuko? You missed music night! Lieutenant Jee sang a stirring love song" Iroh said with a slight smile, recalling the night in his mind.

"I'm going to bed. No disturbances" Zuko simply said and walked below deck.

When Zuko finally got inside his own room, he quickly removed his armor, even his shirt; which made him stand shirtless in front of Hua. She couldn't help but blush at the sight of his muscles.

Then he placed himself in bed covering his lower body with a sheet.

Hua wasn't sure of what to do so she quietly sat down next to the bed, though with her back turned at Zuko; figuring it would be rude to stare at him, in his sleep.

Zuko had a hard time trying to sleep though, his mind was blurred after what the Avatar had told him back in the forest, he gazed up at the Fire Nation symbolic flag above his bed, his eyes grew serious and he turned away from the flag, closing his eyes quickly.

Hua didn't move at all, she guessed Zuko didn't want to speak; especially not of what just happened between the two of them.

At least she was relieved that her present was now wanted from him.

At last.

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**Note to self: Don't ever let your own fantasies get to your mind like this one, then again I just wanted it to be done quickly so I could move on **

**- I must warn you though, after thursday this week I probably won't be able to update as much as I did this summer, 'cause I'll be starting my second year in High School, which means double the hard work for me and less fun for you (Yes, in my country teenagers normally begin at High School when they turn 16, I'm 17 and no I don't have a driver's license, maybe next year when it's legal for me) also note that High School is pretty much greater in my country than in America, not as in they're worse but the High School exam means more to our education than to other people.**

**I'm not going to college, at least, instead I might consider something else though.. Well enough of my yabbering, that's just what I needed to tell you guys.**

**But look forward for the next chapter though, it's gonna be great and pervy in some ways, I'm not telling! :D**


	13. Paralyzing Problems

**Finally, I will soon be able to write about the North Pole, that story will be long though and probably over 3 parts long, but it will also take some time, y'know with me attending school again tomorrow - but at least I fulfilled my task and is almost done with Book 1 *sigh***

**I can only say; Zuko IS a pervert, wonder where he got it from.. Not! xD**

**Well, glad I was able to upload this chapter at least, my head hurts like crazy and I can't wait to go to bed in a moment x_X**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

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It has been a couple of days since Zuko appeared in front of Hua, as the Blue Spirit, yet they haven't spoken of it at all. Not even a single word or a small indication of it.

Zuko felt relief of it, he really didn't want to talk about it to anyone, not even to Hua, it had to be a secret, and he knew he could rely on her not tell anyone his secret.

At the moment the ship was in a quay somewhere, they just needed some time for resting.

Zuko was sitting together with his uncle inside a cabin on the ship; Iroh had encouraged his nephew to join him for tea, which Zuko had been very resistant at to begin with, but when Iroh also invited Hua, he couldn't decline the offer.

Hua was sitting next to Iroh though, which Zuko didn't approve of actually, but he had decided to give the teatime a chance.

Iroh was taking a sip of his tea before pouring up for both Zuko and Hua. They were sitting around a small table, on the floor. Hua, not able to sit on her legs, sat in a mermaid-position; which Zuko found rather alluring, her big bow around her stomach was sliding up a bit, revealing her fair skin underneath, making the Prince blush.

"Ahh! See, Prince Zuko, a moment of quiet is good for your mental well being" Iroh said after another sip of his own tea.

Even Hua had started drinking some of her own tea.

"It's very delicious Iroh" she complimented, causing Zuko to get just a tad curious.

He raised the cup to drink, but never got to as a sudden and violent tremor outside the ship, caused him to splash tea all over his face.

Hua and Iroh looked away trying not to laugh, as Zuko wiped the tea away from his face, even causing his ponytail to get soaked.

When he got up from his seat he slightly grumbled to himself and then he walked out of the room.

Iroh and Hua then decided they'd better go with him, to check what that tremble just now, was about.

When they finally got to the foredeck they were met with the sight of a large beast, Hua looked at it in disgust; it was truly an ugly creature. That's when she noticed the young woman riding it, she had long black hair, covering her left eye, and she wore heavy dark make-up as well as dark clothing.

The crewmembers around the deck were running around as the beast was crawling its way up on the ship, making it rock violently back and forth.

"Get back! We're after a stowaway!" the woman on the beast shouted.

"There are no stowaways on my ship!" Zuko stepped forward looking angrily at the woman.

The girl gave Zuko a cocky smile as her riding-animal was sniffing around, when suddenly it ripped out a chunk of the metal at the ship's deck. Then it stuck it big head down in the hole and sniffed down there.

Suddenly a stranger crawled up from the hole and whimpering ran away from the creature.

But suddenly the animal looked at the man and swung out its long tongue hitting the man, causing him to fall over instantly.

"He's paralyzed" Zuko observed looking at the man who was still awake, but couldn't move his body the slightest.

"Only temporarily. The toxins'll wear off in about an hour. But by then he'll be in jail and I'll have my money" the woman jumped down from the animal and picked up the man.

Hua figured she would be a bounty hunter, talking about money all of a sudden.

"But how did you find him on my ship?" Zuko demanded an answer, not liking a strange woman on his ship.

"My shirshu can smell a rat a continent away" the woman answered, gently petting her animal and then jumped back in the saddle with the paralyzed man.

"Well, I'm impressed" Iroh remarked admiringly.

Then suddenly the woman cracked a whip in her hand, making the animal, her shirshu leap off of the ship and run across the dock.

"Very impressed" Iroh corrected himself, stroking his chin as he saw the woman on the beast disappear.

Zuko gave Iroh an annoyed look but then he started to get an idea.

This woman's shirshu could track down anything, what if it could sniff out a small bald monk?

"Uncle I've got an idea; that creature could possibly find what we're looking for" Zuko finally said.

Iroh's expression seemed a bit puzzled to begin with, but then he understood what his nephew was talking about.

"You're thinking about the Avatar aren't you?" he asked.

Zuko nodded, then he turned to look at Hua who was still standing behind them.

"You wanna come with us?" he asked and reached his hand out for her.

Hua sighed and grabbed his hand "Like I even have a choice" she mumbled.

The three of them had taken one of the kimodo rhinoceroses and were riding inland to find that mysterious woman with the hideous beast.

It turned nighttime when they noticed the giant shirshu outside a bar near the woods, Zuko figured right away the woman would be in there. When they approached the bar they heard screaming and yelling.

"Is someone fighting? Or did they run out of beer?" Hua asked, surprised by the men's roaring, it sounded even worse when they got inside.

Large muscular, sweating and stinking men were standing everywhere. They were shouting, whistling and cheering, but Hua couldn't see for what. That's when Zuko barged in and shoved the men aside violently.

"Out of my way! Step aside, filth!" he yelled at the men he was shoving away.

Iroh and Hua quickly followed him, Hua curious of what was going on.

"He means no offense! I'm sure you bathe regularly" Iroh tried to soothe the men's anger down, as Zuko kept pushing and pulling them away for him to get through.

That's when Hua finally noticed that woman, she was sitting at a table drinking a beer while arm-wrestling with an enormous man. She didn't even have sweat on her forehead, and Hua figured she would be very strong to be that calm in front of all those bandits.

Zuko finally made his way up to the woman's side; he stood next to her with a serious look on his face.

"I need to talk to you" he bluntly said.

"Well, if it isn't my new friends, Angry Boy, Tattoo Girl and Uncle Lazy" the woman said eyeing the three newcomers in the bar.

Iroh snickered at the names she had given them.

Hua looked around nervously, getting weird looks from the men around her and she quickly hid behind Iroh.

Then in one rapid movement the woman won the contest and the men cheered even louder, it practically rained with money on the table, which she had just won.

"Your beast trashed my ship. You have to pay me back" Zuko warned her, still standing beside her.

"Aww, I'd love to help you out, but I'm a little short on money" she answered as she pulled the gold pieces closer to herself.

"Drinks on me!" she shouted out and the men in the bar cheered as loud as they could, and clapped and whooped with all their lungs strength.

The woman was about to drink the last of her beer, when Zuko suddenly pinned her wrist down and looked at her with a solemn look.

"Money is not what I had in mind" he told her.

The woman got up from her seat "Fine, what do you want?" she asked in annoyance.

Zuko didn't answer at first, then he nodded towards the exit and moved towards it, the woman took the hint and followed him outside. Iroh and Hua walked right behind them.

"I need you to find someone" Zuko finally explained as they got outside and the door got closed behind them, he had a blue necklace in his hand which Hua quickly recognized as being Katara's.

"What happened? Your girlfriend run off on you?" the woman mocked and walked up to her shirshu.

"No, she's standing right here" Iroh calmly said and pointed at Hua.

"What?" Hua looked surprised at the older man.

Zuko on the other hand simply ignored is uncle's foolishness; he kept his gaze at the woman and her beast.

"It's not the girl I'm after, it's the bald monk she's traveling with" he answered.

"If you find them, I'll consider the damage to my ship paid for" Zuko promised her.

"Heh, forget it" the woman answered and was about to swing herself in the saddle of her shirshu and run off.

"Plus we'll pay your weight in gold" Iroh suddenly interrupted her, giving the woman something else on her mind.

She jumped down from the shirshu and walked up to Iroh.

"Make it your weight and we got a deal" she said and pointed at Iroh large stomach.

The old man started laughing out loud "You got a deal!" he accepted.

The woman smiled and grabbed the necklace Zuko was holding "Get on" she said and walked up to her shirshu to let it sniff the necklace.

Zuko quickly jumped up on the back of the large animal and Iroh was right behind him, Hua looked up at them with a pleading expression as if she wanted their help. Iroh looked at her instantly and then reached down for her, Hua took his hand and the older man helped her up on the back of the shirshu.

"Thanks Iroh, at least _someone _doesn't see a problem in helping others" Hua said, eyeing Zuko who had been ignoring her the whole time.

The woman jumped up on the back of the animal and cracked her whip; the shirshu was already prepared and rushed through the woods. Up on the front sat the woman, whose name was June, behind her was Zuko who had seemed to take a liking to her all of a sudden, Iroh sat behind his nephew and the last one was Hua, who was having a hard time to hold on.

The shirshu was running for a long time, it actually turned daybreak before it finally stopped; they got to a large greenhouse on a hillside, Zuko looked around when he finally noticed an old woman harvesting a few plants near them, he figured she would be the herbalist who lived in there.

Beside the old woman was a white cat with very long fur, when it noticed the shirshu its body tensed in fear and it started hissing angrily. The old woman noticed it and calmly turned around facing them.

"Out for a bit of fresh air, are we?" she asked, clearly unafraid of any of them.

"We're looking for someone" Zuko announced, looking at the herbalist.

"I hope it's not Miyuki" the woman said and looked down at her cat "Miyuki, did you get in trouble with the Fire Nation again?" she gently scolded her cat, which in return simply meowed in confusion.

Hua looked at the old lady "I think she's spent way too much time alone out here" then she looked around, figuring nobody else was living there, the only thing on this hillside was the greenhouse, everything else was deserted.

"The Avatar's been through here. Let's keep moving" June said and kicked the shirshu hardly, making it run further; seeking for the source of the scent.

The shirshu later ran inside a large village, Hua noticed the volcano behind it and figured the large black walls around the city would be hardened lava. This city had a shrine in the middle of the main street; people were running around screaming, as they were incredibly terrified by the shirshu which suddenly had invaded their city.

Hua felt sorry for the villagers but there clearly wasn't something she could do; besides if the Avatar wasn't there at least the city wouldn't need to be destroyed.

Suddenly the shirshu stopped in front of a house, sniffing around; an elder woman got out from the house, studying her visitors.

"Why are we stopping?" Zuko suddenly asked in annoyance.

"Because the girl must have spent a lot of time here" June explained, looking around.

Zuko frowned and snatched the necklace out of June's hand, jumping down from the shirshu and walked in front of it, making the beast smell the necklace again.

But instead of responding the shirshu started growling at Zuko, and all of a sudden it slammed its tongue after him, but he narrowly dodged it. When he got to his feet he looked in anger at the animal.

"Hey, watch it!" he complained, and neither Iroh nor Hua could keep from laughing at Zuko, who seemed in a heated mood by their entertainment.

"Oh look, he likes you" June mocked and crossed her arms with an impish smile.

The elder woman then walks up to the shirshu's side and looks up at Iroh with a kind smile.

"Care to hear your fortune, handsome?" she flirted.

Hua, still sitting behind Iroh tried to shake the disgust off, by seeing two elder people flirt like that, it wasn't exactly what she enjoyed the most.

"At my age there is really only one big surprise left, and I'd just as soon leave it a mystery" Iroh explained with a smile.

Once again June cracks her whip at her shirshu making it run off again, after Zuko had gotten onto its back again, this time he's the last one sitting on the shirshu, making him sit right behind Hua.

In a way he found pleasure in this, he hadn't been seeing that much of her _behind_, her pigtail was carried by the wind as the shirshu kept sprinting through the landscape, making her skin on her upperback visible to Zuko's eyes.

Her skin wasn't tan as most waterbenders, she was actually pale compared to those, darkbrown hair was tied nicely, it always was. And Zuko thought he saw a small mole on the back of her neck; he blushed. He thought back at the time when he had walked in on her, as she was dressing.

He couldn't really control himself and he ended up wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her closer to him. Hua gasped in surprise but didn't quite dare look back at him, first of all she was afraid to fall off if she made a move, second she found Zuko's behavior very strange and in a way feared what he might do to her. She held her breath for a short while and kept looking straight forward.

Suddenly Hua's thoughts were fixed on something different, the shirshu had found another small village, an abbey actually, and with a quick leap it burst right into the gate which was destroyed immediately.

"We're getting close" June explained as the shirshu started sniffing around, it walked around in a courtyard, apparently this village was inhabited by nuns only, since Hua could only see women everywhere wearing the same robes.

The shirshu was grunting a bit and June cracked the whip again, the animal ran out of the gate again and continued up by a road.

They got back into the woods and the shirshu ran uphill, soon Hua was able to see two human-figures not far away, she couldn't make out who they were just yet, but she soon figured the shirshu was running towards them. When the beast suddenly leapt into the air and landed not far away from the two people, Hua quickly recognized them as Sokka and Katara.

The two siblings quickly ran out of the way, not to get hit by the giant beast, but the shirshu followed them quickly, recognizing Katara's smell from her necklace.

"So this is your girlfriend? No wonder she left. She's way too immature for you" June mocked at looked Katara up and down, figuring she would be underage, compared to Zuko.

Zuko tried to ignore June's comment and jumped down from the shirshu "Where is he? Where's the Avatar?" he demanded.

"We split up! He's long gone" Sokka stated defiantly, looking at Zuko as he kept Katara close to himself.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Zuko frowned at the younger boy.

"Pretty stupid" Sokka scorned with a grin, then he quickly grabbed Katara by the arm "Run!" he started running as he pulled her with him away from the shirshu.

Unfortunately they didn't run very far away, the shirshu was quick and soon it slammed its paralyzing tongue after them, it hit them and they fell to the ground right away, paralyzed.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Zuko complained looking up at June.

Her shirshu had started to sniff around again, walking up to Sokka and Katara.

"It's seeking a different scent, perhaps something that the Avatar held" she explained, the creature started walked towards Sokka as it sniffed his backpack.

A map fell out and rolled out, the shirshu started growled and snarling and was ready to run back towards the abbey, as the scent lead that way.

Zuko quickly ran towards the two Water Tribe kids, he picked them up and more likely threw them on the back of the shirshu and afterwards he jumped up himself.

Katara looked up at Hua in surprise "Hua?" she said.

"Hi Katara" she answered a bit nervously, but suddenly the shirshu started running again.

The shirshu swiftly burst into the gate once again, which had just been repaired, the nuns looked at the creature and screamingly ran away from it quickly.

Then the shirshu walked inside the courtyard again, sniffing the air for the Avatar, the trail lead to the middle of the yard and soon the beast was walking around in a circle.

"What's it doing? It's just going around in a circle!" Zuko frowned in frustration.

The shirshu quickly turned its gaze to the sky, looking straight up at the Avatar who was flying straight towards it on his glider, when he got close enough he flew right past it, making the shirshu jump after him and trying to hit him with its tongue. Aang flew right above it; the shirshu was pretty close and intended to hit him with its tongue, it stood up on its hind legs.

Hua tried to hold on to the saddle, but as she realized the animal was about to fall over, she quickly grabbed on to Katara and Sokka. For a short time she gazed back at Zuko, before jumping off of the shirshu with the two paralyzed kids.

They slid across the ground though as Hua was a bit desperate to get off, she looked back at the shirshu which has, as she foretold, fallen over, together with its riders. She sighed in relief and looked at Katara and Sokka.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked them, concerned.

"We're fine, thank you, Hua" Katara said and slightly smiled, but her smile quickly faded away and she looked up at the Avatar "Aang!" she shouted in worry.

June had gotten up and was cracking her whip at the shirshu, soon it was charging right at Aang with now only June as the rider this time.

But right before the shirshu was able to attack Aang, the Avatar's flying bison stepped in between them and roared at the strange beast. The shirshu roared back, but then the bison shoved it right into the wall of a building, making it crumble, clearly angry it was with the stranger.

Aang smiled at his buddy who seemed to have everything under control, but as he turned around he was unexpectedly facing Prince Zuko whose hands are covered in flames, Aang's smile quickly disappeared, and became a serious look.

Zuko quickly made a firebending-move and shoved a fireball at Aang, the boy quickly dodged it by twirling his glider around in a helicopter-manner, and airbended a gust at the Prince, but he avoided. Once again Zuko shot a fireball at Aang, and like they started over again, Aang avoided it. Hua was still sitting beside Katara and Sokka to make sure they wouldn't get hurt while they were paralyzed; she looked at Zuko and Aang's fight, realizing they would be equally strong, as they kept dodging or avoiding each other's attacks.

Zuko had kicked Aang's glider away from him, and soon their battle turned more intense and close-up. They kept bending at each other but still without luck, that's when they suddenly turned to each other and bended concurrently, creating a large explosion in front of them. They're both sent flying backwards landing on a roof, each. Zuko landing on his stomach, Aang landing on his back.

Hua, still sitting by Sokka and Katara, looking a bit concerned up towards Zuko and she started wondering whether to help him or not. She sighed and decided not to, she figured Zuko wouldn't need her help anyways and she would probably get in his way.

When she looked up at Aang, he was starting to react again and get up from where he had hit the roof, his gaze turned surprised when suddenly Prince Zuko rushed towards him on the spine of the roof, having a kind of fire-sword in his hand, when he was close enough he threw the fire towards Aang. But the young Avatar quickly jumped on in the air landing behind Zuko. Once again Zuko firebended fiercely at Aang, but this time Aang dodged his attacks that was until Zuko got too close, he used his airbending to create a huge windstorm towards Zuko, shoving him into a small tower on the roof.

This time it was Aang's turn to run towards Zuko with a bending-sword in his hand, though when he threw it at Zuko he quickly jumped down from the roof, Aang about to follow him, but June and her shirshu quickly held him in place. Aang started running away from it, still on the roof, but the shirshu then crawled after him and followed him on top of the roof.

Aang's flying bison wasn't finished with the shirshu yet, he turned around and created a large gale at the shirshu, making the tiles on the roof start to fall off.

"I'm starting to get some feeling back!" Sokka announced, slightly able to move his left arm, sitting up against the wall next to Katara, Hua had made sure they would at least be a bit comfortable. But that was when the shirshu ran across the roof above the two of them, making tiles fall down on Sokka, his only respond "Ow."

When Aang finally got down from the roofs again, Zuko was ready to chase him once more. The bald boy rushed towards a well as Zuko kept firebending at him, that's when Aang suddenly noticed Katara's necklace inside Zuko's sleeve, seeing the medallion reveal itself.

"You've got something I want!" Aang then said and jumped up on the well, with Zuko standing on the other side. The Prince started firebended at Aang who quickly grabbed a hold of the roof above the well, Zuko kept shooting fireballs at him, but as he did so, Aang simply moved to another position on the roof, climbing between the pillars holding the roof and so on, all this according to how Zuko attacked.

Zuko then, as he grew tired of this small game, firebended at the roof making it break. Then he jumped up on the edges of the well and then started fighting Aang again. As they continued bending at each other, they also moved around on the edges of the well, going in circles the whole time. Zuko's anger made him keep firebending, but Aang simply dodged the attack, only wanting to get Katara's necklace back from him.

Finally Aang managed to get the necklace back from sitting, by swiping it out of his sleeve with the tip of his foot, Zuko had fallen off of the well landing on the ground, and now Aang had jumped high up in the air to have some time to take the necklace into his hand instead, as he was about to fall down again he straightened himself and fell down into the well.

Zuko quickly leapt towards the well, sending a fireball after Aang; Hua noticed this and stood from her sitting-spot, she then breathed slowly, wishing for there to be water in the well, as she quickly made some big pulling-moves with her hands to get the water out of the well.

After Zuko had created the fireball, he had landed on the edges of the well making him stare right down into the well now, Hua slightly smiled at this though and suddenly a large geyser explodes out of the well carrying Zuko with it up into the air, as the geyser stopped again Aang jumped out of the well and landed on his feet before the well, he looked towards Hua with a smile saying 'thank you' and she nodded back at him. The water from the geyser rained down on Aang again and after the water came Zuko, hitting the ground behind the well.

Zuko was furious when he got to his feet again, at least he didn't know it was Hua who had caused him to get soaked, but he started firebending angrily at Aang who quickly drew back, and his flying bison stepped in front of Zuko in a threatening manner. That's when the shirshu quickly decided to barge in again, it started attacking the bison with its tongue several times, and soon the poor bison would fall over from paralyzing.

Hua had helped Sokka and Katara up on their feet, as they've regained feelings in their legs, the superior nun rushed out to them, as they still were paralyzed other places in their bodies, she had a small bottle in her hand which she placed under their noses, it worked just like smelling salts except this was in perfume-variant, they quickly regained feeling in their entire bodies and straightened up afterwards.

"That thing sees with its nose. Let's give him something to look at" Sokka announced as he had gotten the terrible smell of perfume out of his nose.

"The perfume?" the superior nun asked questioning.

Sokka smiled knowingly as if he had gotten and idea and nodded to the nun, the other nuns quickly got out from the houses again to help, around in the courtyard stood large bowls of perfume, which the women with each other's help knocked over.

Aang was in deep trouble as he was now being attacked both by the shirshu and Prince Zuko.

Katara then started bending the perfume into a great wave, before letting it go and drop it all over the place, making the shirshu unable to see anything at all, it started throwing its tongue furiously around hoping to hit Aang, instead it hit Zuko.

Hua saw this and quickly ran towards him and Iroh, trying to get Iroh out of the way, instead she was hit by the tongue and collapsed on top of Zuko.

Iroh looked surprised down at the two teenagers, then he looked at June who had gotten off of her shirshu to try and calm it down, but instead she was hit by its tongue as well.

"June! Noooo!" Iroh shouted out as he quickly grabbed the woman before falling to the ground with her.

In confusion the shirshu was wildly running around in the courtyard, knocking over some more perfume-barrels, but then it finally got out through the gate and ran into the woods.

"Uncle? I didn't see you get hit with the tongue" Zuko said as his head was turned to Iroh, Zuko breathing had turned into small gasps as he had noticed Hua lying on top of him unable to move either.

Iroh opened his eyes and hushed at his nephew, then he quickly closed his eyes again with a big grin on his face, really enjoying the moment, June on the other hand found it very unpleasant and couldn't wait to get out of there.

Both men had their dream come true; Iroh was having a young woman lying on top of him, that old senile man, and Zuko had his best friend on top of him, and in a rather exciting pose too, Hua had her head on top of Zuko's chest as well as her own chest pressed against his stomach, one of her legs was rubbing against his and her left hand, no matter how embarrassing it was, rested right beside Zuko's groin. As Hua had fallen right after Zuko, he had been able to get his hand around her waist somehow as well.

Hua just managed to see Aang and his friends fly away, and she deep down wished she could go with them, but right now, she somewhat felt comfortable, though it certainly was really embarrassing having her hand so close to a man's noble parts. It made her blush, but Zuko was in a way enjoying the moment, he couldn't help looking at the girl on top of him and wish he was able to move while she was still paralyzed.

The paralyzing wore off after 2 hours straight, but after that June had gotten enough and smacked Iroh right in the face, then she had stalked off to find her shirshu.

Iroh sighed though yet with a smile "Well, it was fun while it lasted."

Zuko was helping Hua to her feet again, he was actually blushing after the many hours of them being so close together, they hadn't been that for years. And somehow they had both missed it.

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**Hua doesn't like all the women Zuko suddenly knows of, she's very jealous but on the other hand, Zuko is or WILL get even worse O.O**

**I found out that those so-called 'bull-rhinos' does have a name, 'Kimodo-Rhinoceros', yes sorry that was my mistake xP I didn't know they actually had names xD;**

**I love embarassing moments between Zuko and Hua x'D More to come~ Promise!**

**Until next time :D**


	14. Music Night

**I feel very much ashamed of myself, this chapter has been lying around on my computer even before I started having trouble with it. Meaning you guys could've read this months ago! x_X**

**I'm so sorry! But luckily I can make up for it with my latest chapter, chapter 15, which I've just wrote. That's when I realized something seriously was missing here.**

***sigh* Good grief I'm stupid. Once again, I deeply apologize xD; No really, I feel terrible knowing that this was never uploaded.**

**Anyways..**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

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Prince Zuko's ship had started to reach colder oceans, when they finally had gotten out on the sea again after their last trip to the mainland.

Zuko felt he and Hua was growing closer and closer again, like they had done it years before; they were becoming best friends again. No, he couldn't lie to himself; it really was more than just mere friendship. But he didn't know for sure if Hua felt that way, or if he was just being too confident with himself.

As the days passed it started to get colder and soon they would see ice floes float by them, as well as a couple of turtle seals going the same way as they were.

Zuko was watching Hua as she was practicing her waterbending by the edge of the ship, she had become a lot better by the years he had to admit, but yet he still feared for her powers, she was strong and powerful, enough to be able to overthrow the whole ship if that's what she wanted.

Hua had even taught herself how to bend ice as they were sailing past the ice floes, she was now able to turn ice into water and vice versa. She was even able to create icicles and ice-pillars from the water, creating even more ice floes than there already was.

"She is improving exceptionally fast" Iroh remarked as he got up to Zuko's side on the deck, both of them wore warmer clothing as the weather had turned colder as well.

Hua was in fact the only one who didn't; she seemed too busy with her bending that she didn't even notice the cold weather.

"She sure is" Zuko mumbled in agreement, he tried to hide a slight smile, yet his fear helped him.

"Zuko, why don't you give this to her?" Iroh suggested and handed his nephew a warm cloak for Hua to wear.

Zuko looked at the cloak in confusion but his uncle simply smiled at him and slightly pushed him towards the waterbending girl.

He almost stumbled up to her and just managed to avoid her water-whip which she by accident almost had flipped at him.

"Zuko! I'm sorry" she turned around realizing what happened, or almost happened. Her expression was nervous and yet concerned.

"Don't think about it" he said and cleared his throat "I thought you might be cold" he finally said and handed her the cloak.

"Thanks, but I'm actually fine. I don't feel the cold that much, I guess my practicing have made me warm" she smiled at him.

That's when a cold breeze flushed over the ship, Hua finally reacted to the weather and she felt shivers all over her body, then she let out a loud sneeze.

Zuko, Iroh and the few crewmembers on the deck looked astounded at her and Zuko quickly handed her the cloak.

"Put this on before you get sick!" Zuko then commanded her and forced the cloak on her, not even waiting for her response.

Hua looked rather surprised at the Prince's action, but didn't dare to say anything against his word; she figured he was just trying to help, in his own forceful way. But she smiled, trying to hide that her nose was running too.

Zuko rolled his eyes in slightly annoyance, but he still smiled at the girl in front of him, then he wrapped his arms around her with care and started rubbing her upperbody.

"Here let me warm you" he just said as he did, Hua didn't feel uncomfortable at this, rather she actually felt very relaxed and comfortable by this and she couldn't help but slightly smile herself.

Zuko noticed her smiled and tried to relax, himself, not to blush or anything worse, he slightly looked out at the ocean to get something else to think of in the meantime.

Iroh who was still watching them, smiled and decided to walk up to them "By the way, do you two want to participate in Music-Night this evening?" he asked with a lazy voice.

Zuko stopped rubbing Hua and sighed at his uncle's interruption, Hua on the other hand smiled, as she still rested her upperbody against Zuko, and she nodded to the old man.

"I'd love to" she said optimistically, before Zuko could decline for both of them. He rolled his eyes at the girl's cheerfulness.

Later that day, as the sun started to go down, a couple of the crewmembers including Lieutenant Jee walked up on the deck, almost every one of them carrying some kind of instrument in their hands.

Iroh was already waiting for them, seeing his own tradition as very important, both to him and the rest of the crew as well. The only time where they could relax and break loose a couple of inhibitions once in a while.

Hua was excited, she had never experienced General Iroh's Music Night and she couldn't wait to see what it was all about.

Zuko was there too, Hua hadn't let him stay in his room for very long, when she heard from the crew that they were about to start. Though Zuko didn't look too pleased with the whole situation, he on the other hand wasn't that pleased with his uncle's bizarre hobbies.

Hua pulled Zuko closer to the group of men who was settling themselves around a campfire with their instruments, Iroh walked up to them, though not having an instrument Hua figured he would be singing.

"It is with great honor and pleasure that I bid my nephew Prince Zuko and his lovely girlfriend Hua, welcome to our Music Night – I hope you all will have a good time" Iroh announced with a warm smile, the crewmembers clapped and smiled at Zuko and Hua, Zuko had slightly blushed by Iroh calling Hua his girlfriend.

The _couple_ settled down in front of the campfire as the crew started playing their instrument, it seemed like such a sad melody already, they were very concentrated; Hua figured they had agreed to which song to play first.

Then Iroh started singing to the melody, even his voice sounded sad for some reason, which Hua wasn't sure of. But she surely enjoyed the good time, sitting right next to Zuko, she looked up at him. His face was expressionless and he just seemed to stare into the fire, but she thought she saw some emotion flashing in Zuko's gaze. She gently smiled and leaned closer to him. She didn't think he would react, but he actually did. Zuko had wrapped his arm around Hua as they were sitting by the fire, she smiled by him holding her, she felt safe.

When the song was finished the two of them clapped by Iroh and the crew's performance, they stood from their seats and bowed as a 'thank you'.

"Hua wouldn't you like to sing us a song?" Iroh suggested "I am sure, that if I remember correctly; you have a beautiful voice" he smiled knowingly.

Hua blushed; she used to sing when she was alone in her prison cell or when the guards were very sleepy, these people was clearly awake, she didn't know for sure if she dared to sing.

Zuko smiled encouragingly at her, truly wanting to hear her singing voice. He had only heard it once, and from a distance at that.

The crew started clapping at her as she finally got to her seat, even Iroh and Zuko did the same, figuring the girl would be shy to show off in public. Well, minor but still.

Iroh gently patted her shoulder then he settled down beside Zuko, excited for Hua's performance.

Hua was standing a bit nervously in front of the crew, then she walked up to them and started whispering something to Lieutenant Jee, he nodded as she whispered to him. Then he smiled in agreement and signaled to the other crewmembers, they understood what he meant and started playing.

The music was very soft, almost like a lullaby. Hua was standing beside Lieutenant Jee as he was playing his Pipa-lute, seeming very concentrated. The lute was followed up by drums and then the heartrending sound of the Tsungi-horn. This mixture sounded to Zuko like a sad love-song, yet he didn't know for sure.

Hua breathed slightly nervously, that's when she started singing; Zuko's eyes widened when he heard her voice, it was gentle yet powerful, smooth and fitting for a young woman like herself.

The song was as Zuko had guessed about a tragic love, but he thought he got a deeper meaning about it; she was actually singing about her past, how she was adopted by Firelady Ursa, become best friends with Zuko but also how they were torn apart when they got separated by the Water Tribe kidnappers.

Hua's voice was turning slightly out of balance with the music; it was almost whispery and weak. Zuko knew she was about to cry, he even felt his own eyes burn by being reminded of that day, many years ago.

When Hua's throat started hurting and she couldn't feel her voice anymore, Zuko walked up to her quickly and pulled her close to him.

Lieutenant Jee stopped playing on his Pipa, understanding what this meant and he signaled the rest of the men to cease their playing as well.

"That was a very beautiful song Hua" Zuko gently whispered in her ear, kindly petting her head. She had her face buried in his tunic; she felt the tears escape her eyes dripping upon Zuko's tunic, making it hot and wet.

The Prince didn't move or say a thing, he tried to control himself as caring for Hua.

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**Why yes the Prince can be caring sometimes, but he's still Prince Zuko of The Fire Nation, he's still the bad guy, he hasn't turned completely soft (know this also when you read the next chapter :b)**

**And once again, I'm so sorry QwQ Hurry up and read the next chapter before you realize how much of a douche I am T-T**


	15. Big Plans

**You thought I'd never update this didn't you? No? Oh yes you did :b Well it doesn't matter anymore, I'm here to stay xD**

**My dad got my computer fixed and to repay your long patience (though I doubt you've been as patient as I want you to xP) I'll update all my fics, starting with this one!**

**Actually I wanted this chapter to be way longer but as it came to the end (or what turned out to be the end) of the chapter, I couldn't make myself continue, I found it a proper moment to stop, if you get my drift owo**

**Oh well, I won't disappoint you guys, you'll see once you've read this chapter :D**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

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It was starting to get really late, but the Music Night was still in its fullest bloom.

Iroh had started singing again while Lieutenant Jee and the rest of crew kept playing; even some of the men had started dancing as well.

Zuko had sent Hua off to bed earlier, figuring she needed some rest after her touching performance with the crewmembers.

She was now fast asleep in her made bed. Zuko had also retired to his own chambers, lying shirtless in his bed trying to fall asleep, though he couldn't from all that had happened earlier that night, his mind was too stuffed with thoughts about Hua. He didn't know for how long he'd been lying like that in his bed, but it felt like eternity, that's when he heard a knock on the door.

He sighed heavily and got up from his bed, figuring it was his uncle who was knocking, to beg him to participate in their Music Night again "For the last time, I'm not playing the Tsun-Gi horn!" he said annoyed and threw the door open.

Certainly it was Iroh, but he looked pretty much serious for a change "No, it's about our plan-" he whispered "There's a bit of a problem" he declared before none other than General Zhao entered the room.

"I'm taking your crew" he announced in his usual mean and sadistically voice, truly he always enjoyed watching Zuko grow angry by his own victories.

"What?" Zuko frowned at the man in front of him.

"I've recruited them for a little expedition to the North Pole" he grinned and crossed his arms, knowing this was his win and Zuko's loss, and did he enjoy himself?

"Uncle, is that true?" Zuko quickly turned to Iroh in protest of Zhao's declaration.

"I'm afraid so, he's taking everyone" Iroh shrugged "Even the cook" he added hastily almost whiningly.

"Sorry you won't be there to watch me capturing the Avatar" Zhao told them, trying to hold in a great laugh as he added "but I can't having you get in my way again" in a threatening voice.

This was the drop that caused the glass to overflow, Zuko was ready to almost throw himself at Zhao, but Iroh just managed to stop him. He didn't wish for his nephew to fight this man once again, and certainly not when their cover was in danger as well.

But luckily for both of them, Zhao's attention quickly took him somewhere else; he walked towards the wall his eyes fixed on a couple of swords. The exact same swords Zuko had been using against Zhao and his men when he was disguised as The Blue Spirit, and helped the Avatar flee from him.

His expression turned dull as he looked at them but he didn't say a word, instead he took one of the swords down from the wall and studied it for a moment.

Then he finally spoke "I didn't know you were skilled with broad-swords, Prince Zuko" he remarked not taking his eyes away from the sword, as he swung it in his hands.

"I'm not. They're antiques, just decorative" Zuko murmured and looked away from the swords, his fists closed.

"Tell me General Iroh, have you ever heard of The Blue Spirit?" Zhao suddenly asked, which actually took both Iroh and his nephew aback, yet they both kept calm and acted as if it was nothing.

"They're just rumours. He's not real" Iroh shrugged at Zhao's question.

"He's real alright" Zhao told them "He's a criminal and an enemy of the Fire Nation. But I have a feeling justice will catch up with him soon" he growled.

Zuko felt a shiver run down his spine, he begged that Zhao didn't know that he was The Blue Spirit, it would be way too dangerous if he knew that much.

Zhao then turned to them and gave the sword to Iroh, but when he got just outside the room he said:

"General Iroh, the offer to join my mission still stands if you change your mind" he reminded the elder general, though not waiting for an answer he closed the door behind him, leaving the ship for good this time.

Zuko rubbed his forehead in an annoyed manner and let himself fall backwards down on his bed again.

"What do you want to do know, Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked his nephew, putting the sword back on the wall with the other one.

"I will let the plan proceed, just like we've been talking about" Zuko answered, his voice very low, almost as if he was unsure whether to take a different decision.

"I understand. Otherwise we'll bring Hua in too much danger than needed" Iroh nodded in agreement.

Their plan had, the whole time, been to lead Hua to the North Pole and let her stay there. That was just for the time being, that their plan would take action, once it was fulfilled they would take her with them again.

Zuko said that she would be safe among this Water Tribe, the strongest of them all. He also knew that she had befriended with the Avatar and his friends. He did all this for his best friend, so she could associate with other waterbenders in all ages.

It had been a hard decision for him in some ways; he wasn't sure whether she would run off once they left her by herself or if he would miss her too much. Recently he had grown very fond of her company, he had missed his childhood friend so much and all those other new feelings also started flowing around his mind.

But the plan was set, and Hua's next destination was The North Pole Tribe, nobody would do her anything since she was originally a Water Tribe member, they would definitely recognize her.

Suddenly the door went open, Hua was standing in the opening looking worried at the two men.

"Hua, what're you doing up so late?" Zuko asked partly surprised, partly acting – he didn't want her to know what had just happened, but he was too late.

"Well I saw that ugly monkey leave the ship and I was wondering what was happening?" she asked and walked up to Zuko.

She had heard Zhao walk down the hall as he was leaving and grew a bit curious, when she slightly opened the door to her room she saw Zhao walk past with a determined look on his face, and she thought she saw an evil grin as well.

"It was nothing" Zuko tried to assure her, but once again too late.

"We'll have to send you to the North Pole beforehand" Iroh almost burst out.

"What? Why?" Hua asked, already prepared to object their orders.

"Hua, it's for your own good" Zuko quickly said and placed his hands on her shoulders, his eyes finally showed some confidence "You have to trust me, it's for the best. I can't tell you any more details. Uncle will leave as well."

Iroh gently smiled at the girl, reassuring her that he was leaving at own wish.

"Don't worry, we'll all be together again before you know it" he said and figured he should leave the room.

"Is it because you're afraid I might get in the way?" Hua suddenly asked as soon as Iroh had left, she looked up at Zuko with a hurt expression.

"No! It's nothing like that!" Zuko defensively replied, but before continuing he made sure to calm himself down, taking a deep sigh "Look, I'm serious when I say I want you out of trouble, but it wasn't meant as a _'you'd cause trouble'_ it was meant as a_ 'I'd rather not see you hurt'_" he tried to formulate, but even found it weird himself.

Hua looked at him for a while without speaking, she then took a deep breath and tried to smile "Thank you, but just promise me you'll stay out of trouble as well. I don't want you to get hurt either" she said, though feeling tears behind her eyelids.

Half an hour later Zuko had helped Hua get ready for a small journey by boat, there were no one else on the ship but those two. The ship had been in harbour for a while, and the crew had left long ago, even Iroh had left soon after.

Hua was getting in some warmer clothing, as the cold had started to become worse, while Zuko was preparing the boat.

"Are you all set yet?" he asked, as he was ready to lower the small boat into the icing water.

Hua had put on a long dark-blue coat, with a furry hood, a pair of warm boots and some big gloves, that way she would be able to stay warm on the North Pole. Both day and night. No matter the weather.

"Yes" she declared, she had her long pigtail resting down her shoulder, she didn't want to cover it up with clothing, nor her beloved necklace, but Zuko said she had to hide it as soon as she got closer to the Water Tribe, else they'd consider her a Fire Nation spy. It hadn't been easy to convince Hua but she had finally surrendered to his proposition "But not yet" she had said, in some way it made the prince very happy, to know that she stayed loyal to their friendship, even after all the fights they've been through on their journey.

Zuko helped his friend into the boat; he had given her a small bag of food and a smaller one filled with water, in case the trip would take longer than expected.

Hua held on to the gunwale of her small boat and looked up at Zuko, her eyes already longing and sad. He gazed back at her, silently returning her feelings.

He was about to lower the boat when suddenly she grabbed his hand and softly placed her cold lips on his cheek. Zuko felt his cheeks starting to burn right away and figured he must've been blushing like never before, but Hua just smiled and gave him yet another kiss before sitting down in the boat again.

"Take care" she whispered and pulled up her hood.

Zuko just managed to find his voice again "You too" he whispered back and started lowering the boat into the deep water.

Once the boat was in the water, Hua took out an oar and started paddling her way through the water, from where Zuko stood she really looked like any other waterbender.

He felt his throat burn, yet not in the same way as he had felt his cheeks just moments ago, this was a pain that was unbearable and he wished deeply it would soon go away.

He was soon left all alone on the large Fire Navy-ship, watching as his best friend disappeared out on the huge dark ocean, her next destination The North Pole and their Water Tribe.

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**Now wasn't that touching? I know I cried a little when writing this..**

**And don't you worry a bit! I'm gonna do another update very soon, once I've finished a couple of updates on some of my other fics, but this is on my 'Seriously gonna update soon again'-list (don't mind me my weirdness for now)**

**As I've possibly said earlier, this book (1) is soon going to end, and I'm guessing it'll take another 3-4 chapter before that'll happen, my notes says the other chapter will be miles long otherwise x.X**

**But stay tuned, you won't be missing the adventures on the North Pole :D I know you want it to happen! :b**

**'til next time guys, I love ya'll n_n**


	16. Welcome to The North Pole

**I really shouldn't have created this, I still need to update 6 more fanfictions before I could even permit myself to update this one again, but I couldn't help myself. Now I just wanna finish Book 1 in a hurry, especially 'cause the great crescendo of book 1 is soon to come, and I can't wait for that. Be prepared for a lot of ZukoxHua-lovey-dovey once we've come so far :b**

**If I'm lucky I only need just another chapter, and then I can start with the actual battle at The North Pole x'3 And really, sometimes one would think that you guys have been peeking in my notes, some of you actually guess which things that's gonna happen, don't do that to me, lol! x'D**

**Oh well, this chapter is entirely about Hua, but I promise you guys Zuko will appear in the next chapter :) And I just realized I screwed up some of the details in the last chapter *sigh* If you suddenly starts thinking 'hey what the hell', just leave it at that and act as if nothing has happened, I am going to follow the true storyline after all (trying at least) n_n;**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

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It had been a day since Zuko and Hua departed, the weather had been silent ever since; except that it had started snowing now. The water was completely calm and there was not a sound to be heard around the huge glaciers…

"ACHOO!" - except from that.

Hua rubbed her running nose; it had been like that for hours now. She sniffed a bit and gently pushed her oar through the freezing water.

"S-s-stupid Zuko" she stammered because of the cold, her nose kept on running.

"S-s-sending me off into the cold like this, and then he can stay on the warm ship all by himself, there was no reason for me to go to the North Pole after all" she told herself and pulled her hood closer to her face. She felt numb everywhere from the cold, surely she was wearing warm clothing but on the inside she still wore her usual Earth Kingdom-attire, which didn't keep any warm at all.

"S-s-speaking of which I should've reached the North Pole by now, shouldn't I?" she looked around as her small boat sailed away from the glaciers. She finally caught sight of land in the horizon, not too far away. But she wished it was closer anyways, she had eaten up all her food and she didn't have any more water left; to be honest she was thirsty, hungry and tired all at the same time.

"Such a friend he is, that Zuko. Had I known the trip was so long and hard I would never have agreed to this" she sniffed one last time before starting to row harder making the boat go faster. She missed being on land, no matter how much she felt attached to water, she couldn't stand the cold!

It took her an hour to finally reach the Northern Water Tribe; she was completely moved by the look of this place. It was like nothing she had ever seen and Hua had to shed a tear. This place could've been her actual home so many years ago.

The whole city was surrounded by great walls of ice, with the Water Tribe logo showing on the walls. By the looks of it, this place looked like an icy version of her adoptive-home in the Earth Kingdom. Thinking back of her, probably now completely destroyed village, she tightened her grip around the oar.

But she soon got other stuff to worry about, how in the world where she to get inside the city? Aside from the gigantic walls, there was not even a single gate or anything that said 'welcome', actually it seemed like this tribe wasn't interested in unwanted guests.

Before she could think of any solution it kind of came to her, a pair of fancy, decorated boats were heading her way, in each of them were approximately 5 men bending the water, not even using any help from an oar. So they were the waterbenders from this tribe, Hua almost felt embarrassed by her silly excuse for an oar and quickly put it in the boat.

The watertribe-men stopped when they saw her, one boat on each side of hers.

"Who are you?" a bearded man asked her, his voice seemed rather kind and none of the other men seemed to question her looks very much.

"I-I'm Hua. A waterbender just like you" she said, a few of the men whispered to each other but she didn't take any note of it.

"You don't seem like one from around here" the same man scratched his beard, thoughtfully.

"Well, I'm not actually. I grew up outside from the Water Tribes, but I was born a waterbender" she declared.

"Show us" a man from the other boat demanded, he sounded a bit doubtful.

Hua shrugged, she didn't see anything wrong with this; of course they wanted to know if she spoke the truth, else anyone who said they were waterbenders, could get inside the village. She stood up in her boat, a bit uneasy at first as it started rocking a tad by her sudden movements.

She heard whispers coming from the men again. She sighed and then calmly started to move her arms around in the air, in a composed manner. A small pillar of water obeyed her movements and started to move out of the rest of the water. Soon she was almost carrying a snake-ish pile of water around in front of her.

A few of the men gasped while others just looked at her in surprise, as her movements got quicker, more controlled and more professional.

"You pass" the bearded man smiled at her, his face very friendly and peaceful.

She smiled and watched as the men started bending the boats closer to the huge ice-walls, not planning to stop. She looked questioning after them, but her eyes quickly grew to double size as a round gate suddenly was created through the ice.

"You can go on" another man looked back at her, his smile also rather friendly compared to her being a total stranger, but then again she guessed the Tribe would trust any waterbender they met. At times of war the only ones you really can rely on, are the ones from your own neighborhood, in this case the ones who carry the same element as you do.

Hua stood silently for a moment in her boat, then she figured she wanted to impress the men and try to bend her boat inside the city as well. She had never tried so before, but it seemed pretty easy when _they _did it, so why shouldn't she give it a try?

It didn't go half bad, she managed to get herself _and _the boat through the gate, yet she almost fell backwards as soon as the boat started moving. There really was a kind of better techniques to it, than what she knew of.

When she got inside the gate closed behind her and she was floating around in the middle of a huge lock-system. They were really organized here, on the four walls all around her, stood waterbenders. Then she heard loud noises of water coming from behind them and soon the lock were her boat was resting, was being filled with water, which caused the water level to rise. The water was bended down in the lock, like many small waterfalls all around her and Hua swore she almost felt bedazzled by this sight.

When the water stopped, the wall in front of her was opened and she was able to get through with ease.

Now this city was the liveliest portrait of art Hua had ever seen in her entire life. All houses and buildings were created of ice and throughout the whole city ran this canal, she was sailing at right at the moment, it was their quickest way to get around and a well-organized system at that.

Hua inhaled the scent of fresh air and once again felt like this was a place to call home, she had to dry a few tears away from her face once more. This was really a touching moment for her.

Another boat was waiting for her by the entrance, this one was completely flat and only three men were aboard this one. A younger man reached his hand out to her.

"Welcome to the Northern Water Tribe" he said and Hua nodded as a thank you, and took his hand, the man gently helped her over to his own boat.

As they sailed through the large city, Hua took note of what the different citizens were doing. The men were working on different stuff, sometimes with the help of big arctic animals, the women were carrying food or clothing with them and the children were simply fooling around, giggling and laughing, and sometimes even waving at the boats.

Hua waved at a little boy and smiled at everyone's kindness and carefree nature. This was like their own little paradise; one could almost forget what misery the world was going through at the very moment, with the war and the Fire Nation.

She was sailed towards the center of the city, where an even greater ice-building was created, it protruded up over the rest of the city like a tower, but the construction itself resembled a castle and the more Hua looked at it, the more it looked like the Fire Lord's castle, just formed in ice.

She quickly put her childhood thoughts aside when the boat stopped and she was met by a large fuzzy face, at first she had no idea what exactly she was looking at. It had big, round eyes, curious and friendly and a large brown arrow on its forehead.

"Hey, you're the Avatar's flying bison!" she smiled and pointed at the beast which apparently recognized her smell.

When she jumped off the boat and back on land, she just managed to see the bald boy running towards her, with his friends.

"Hua is that really you!" Katara said in surprise of seeing her here.

"It sure is" she smiled and pulled off her hood.

Katara and Aang stopped in front of her, both with smiles on their faces.

"It's good to see you guys again. It didn't feel right that we had to depart so quickly the last time and in such a rough manner. Please, let me apologize on Zuko's behalf" she was about to make an apologizing bow, when suddenly Katara's older brother, Sokka jumped in between them.

"Aha! You're probably here as a spy, aren't you? Zuko sent you to capture Aang!" he pointed accusingly at her, his voice very strident and his expression very bizarre, as if he was waiting for her answer and that he'd be right in his accusation.

"Sokka!" Katara said in annoyance and punched him on the arm.

"Umm... Hi Sokka" Hua tried to ignore the boy's strange behavior, yet she did understand his blame for her, she was after all Zuko's friend and she's been travelling around the world with him.

"Listen, I want to apologize for what happened with the pirates, I had _no_ idea Zuko had hired them to capture you."

Aang, who had not taken his eyes away from Hua a single moment, gently placed his small palm on her shoulder.

"I believe her" he stated.

"What!" Sokka once again shouted.

"Think about it, if she really was Zuko's spy she wouldn't have helped us get away from the pirates and neither would she have let me escape Zuko's ship back when he captured me at the South Pole" Aang explained.

"And she helped me with my waterbending before the pirates caught us" Katara added.

"See? I'm one of the good guys-" but Hua was quickly interrupted by Sokka, who couldn't take no for an answer.

"-Who happens to be best friends with our worst enemy!" he pointed at her again, this time his finger only a few inches away from her face.

Hua sighed and figured she couldn't talk Sokka to his senses again "Listen, I've known Zuko my whole life and-" she bit down at her lip "Please let me explain later" she begged.

Sokka was just about to burst out again, but both Aang and Katara slapped their hands on his mouth, preventing him to talk any further.

"If you want to talk about it, we'll gladly listen" Katara said with a gentle smile and Aang nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys" Hua sighed in relief.

Later the chief of the Nothern Water Tribe invited the Avatar and his friends, including Hua to a huge dinner, to celebrate the Avatar's arrival. They were all sitting as guests in honor in front of a long table with a whole lot of food in front of them. Hua sat beside Aang, who of course sat in the middle, next to them was Katara and then Sokka. On Aang's other side sat the chief of the city; Chief Arnook, and on his other side a couple of elderly important men.

The sun had gone down, which gave the entire city a whole new perspective. They were sitting in a large, outdoor dining room. Almost the whole city were gathered around the huge place and were sitting, waiting for what was going to happen.

Compared to the rest of the city they were sitting on a large ice-cube above all the others. In the middle of the place a huge meal was being prepared by a group of men, it looked like they had been slaughtering a bunch of platypus-bears or even a gigantic koi, there was so much meat gathered in one place. Hua felt her stomach growl and had to squeeze it to make it quiet.

Appa, the flying bison, had gotten a nice place to rest too, with both food and a nice view too.

Hua couldn't take her eyes away from a large fountain in the back of the whole place, she loved the sound of the splashing water, though she had sworn, the exact same day, not to look at water with passion again, that little trip by boat was at fault, but just by looking at this fountain she forgot all her worries. The entire city made her forget _everything_ important.

Some painted men suddenly hammered away on large drums and people's voices started to die, when everything had gone quiet the chief stood from his seat. Everyone turned their attention to Chief Arnook as he spoke;

"Tonight, we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from the Southern Tribe, as well as another sister from the Earth Kingdom" the chief stated, as he first addressed Sokka and Katara, and thereafter even Hua. The girl felt like blushing by that, she had never been in the middle of attention like that.

The chief continued his speech "And they have brought with them someone very special, someone whom many of us believed disappeared from the world until now – The Avatar" he declared and motioned with both arms at Aang. The boy smiled nervously and waved as the people were clapping and cheering at him.

"We also celebrate my daughter's 16th birthday" he announced and then motioned to a young girl who came up to the table, her dress was purple and her face calm and gentle. But what caught Hua's eyes the most was her white hair, as pure as ivory.

"Princess Yue is now of marrying age" the chief spoke, as the girl bowed at the citizens.

"She would be one year younger than me" Hua murmured in a very low voice.

"Thank you, father" the girl said and turned to the citizens once more "May the great Ocean and Moon Spirits watch over us during these troubled times", Hua looked a bit questioning at the mention of the spirits, she'd never heard of any of them, not from any tales in the books.

"Now, Master Pakku and his students will perform!" the chief declared before settling down again, and with those words an elderly man, with long white hair and a matching beard starting showing off his great waterbending skills, alongside two younger men, one on each of his sides.

The performers used a whole amount of water from three huge vases in front of them, each creating a large bubble of water.

Hua looked amazed at their skills, then she looked at Katara and Aang, and she was sure that they've gotten the exact same idea as her. This Master Pakku, would be a great teacher, even for herself. Hua found herself rather good with learning how to control the water around her in different ways, but this guy could really teach her something. And without a doubt he could also teach both Aang and Katara as well.

The men kept performing for a while.

"Avatar, I suspect you're here to receive training in waterbending" the chief suddenly spoke as he looked at Aang.

"Oh yes, very much" the boy quickly said.

"Then come with me, I shall introduce you to Master Pakku, and he shall become your new master" he declared and got up from his seat.

Hua and Katara looked as Aang was about to leave "Put in a good word for us" they said almost synchronically, and when they noticed they started giggling.

Aang smiled at them and nodded.

"So, what exactly are you doing here anyways?" Katara then asked, picking up some food for herself.

Hua did know the question would be coming at some point, she was just really taken aback that it was so sudden. Her expression then changed and she started crumbling the small piece of bread she had in her hands.

"Would you promise not to get mad?" she asked quietly.

"Of course" Katara promised, though in a puzzling way, she wasn't too sure of what Hua was going to say.

"Actually, it's because Zuko _sent_ me here, he said something bad was going to happen soon and that he wanted me out of trouble, and it's not for the reasons you may think" Hua assured, though not even completely sure of it herself.

Katara kept quiet and just ate some of the food on her plate, she didn't like Zuko the least, but she figured this girl had her reasons to do as she did, and be by the Prince's side all the time.

"Listen, even though you guys may see him as a bad person, I've known him my whole life and to me he's not that bad. Okay, I agree he's got some temper and he can really make me so angry sometimes. But we're still friends."

"Hua? Just exactly how did you two become friends?" Katara then asked after swallowing some fruit "I mean, I've been thinking about it ever since we met, how come a waterbender is best friends with the Prince of The Fire Nation?"

Hua smiled, trying to stay sharp and she took a deep breath before speaking further;

"I've never known my parents or where I was born. I was sort of adopted by Firelady Ursa when I was a child, though the Firelord wasn't too happy with her decision. I was to be a maiden and a playmate for their children, which mean Zuko and his sister. Well, Zuko and I become very good friends, for some strange reason I can't even recall how I started to interest him, but suddenly someday he came up to me and asked me if I wanted to play with him" she shrugged, her bread was now completely reduced to crumbs on the table.

"So you've known Zuko even before he got that scar?" Katara asked, her voice almost whispery, not trying to sound too pushy as she figured this was a sore subject for the older girl beside her.

"Yeah, long before. But I was not there when it happened, one night I was kidnapped by a group of waterbenders who've heard that I've been _held hostage_ in the Firelord's castle and worked as a slave. So they took me and that was the last time I saw Zuko without his scars."

"Huh? He has more than one?" the younger girl asked her.

"After hearing the story of how it happened, I'm sure he's got more than the visible one" Hua nodded in agreement.

"I see. So what happened when you got kidnapped was that how you learned waterbending?" Katara got curious again.

Hua silently smiled "Not at all, I taught myself waterbending throughout my life at the castle. After I was taken away from the Fire Nation, I was brought to the Earth Kingdom and have been living there ever since… well, now" she shrugged.

"But you wanna know what I can't forgive Zuko for?" she then asked with a gloomy voice "for burning down my village. I did everything I could to save it but it was too late. The same happened when we were at The Southern Pole and even on Kyoshi Island."

Katara turned silent by hearing the name of her home. Hua noticed her expression right away.

"I'm sorry" she said and gently placed her hand on Katara's shoulder.

"You know what, Hua?" Katara started "Sokka can think whatever he wants of you, I think you're a great friend" she smiled encouragingly for both of them.

Hua couldn't help but smile too and then she quietly pulled the younger girl into an embrace. She tried to hold back the tears but failed.

"Thank you so much Katara."

* * *

**It was actually a very important part for me, that Hua could trust Katara and befriend her. They do have a few things in common after all, and with Hua being alone mostly all of her life and feeling kinda miserable and split up when being with Zuko, she really needed a friend in the gAang. She's not turning into a Katara-clone, don't even think that! Neither a Mary Sue!**

**But anyways, I hope you guys are satisfied with this chapter, it took me a lot of time *phew* and damn was it long like Hell? x'D**

**Okay, 'till next time :D**


	17. Fight of The Waterbenders

**Gods, did this take forever or what? Maybe I should just shut up about when I'm gonna end Book 1, 'cause clearly I cannot figure it out, sheesh x.X**

**At any rate this was a pain to get through and I'm not that pleased either about how it turned out, but this is Hua's and Katara's long struggle with Master Pakku, trying to convince him to teach them waterbending.. I've also included Zuko! Haven't forgotten about him yet, nuhuh! x3**

**That's pretty much all I'm going to say now I guess.. :)**

**Enjoy, R&R please!

* * *

**

It had become very late when Hua and Katara left the party, Sokka was still there talking to the chief's daughter.

The two girls were quickly accompanied by Aang, who happily told them about Master Pakku and that he had agreed to teach all three of them. Hua's mood had gotten better by the good news and because of the smiles on her friends' faces.

"I can't believe we're really going to practice waterbending together again" Katara squealed at Hua in excitement.

"Me neither!" Hua squealed back and hand-in-hand the two girls skipped their way towards their hut.

"Hey wait up!" Aang shouted after them, needing to run after them to keep up.

The chief had given the friends their own hut, a nice warm place to sleep in during their stay. It was very simple with big, fuzzy animal skins spread around the floor and large candles around the room for better lighting.

The three of them decided to go early to bed, to be ready for tomorrow and their first training-session with Master Pakku.

Early next morning the Avatar and the two waterbending-girls went towards Master Pakku's training ground, where the older man was already practicing with the water, his back turned to the kids.

"Goodmorning Master Pakku!" Aang suddenly shouted, startling the older man quite a bit causing him to drop the water he was using.

"No, please, march right in, I'm not concentrating or anything" the master said clearly being sarcastic as his voice seemed annoyed.

"Uhh, these are my friends, Hua and Katara, the ones I told you about" Aang said rubbing the back of his neck while pointing at the girls.

The girls respectfully bowed at the master as he turned watching them, though wondering about his weird grimace. Then he smoothly created an ice-chair for him to sit in.

"I'm sorry. I think there's been a misunderstanding. You didn't tell me your friends were girls" Master Pakku suddenly said looking very serious. The girls looked questioning at each other and then on the master again.

"In our tribe, it is forbidden for women to learn waterbending!" hearing this the girls' jaws almost dropped to their stomachs in chock. Hua felt herself clench her fists; for all these years she's been teaching herself waterbending in the hands of both firebenders _and_ earthbenders, always helping out men and women with their trouble, refusing to receive money from her deeds, and when she's finally able to get a _real _master he tells her she's not allowed to learn waterbending!

She was normally a very kind and happy girl, but now she felt a deep anger growing inside of her, the more she thought of it, the more it grew.

The first one of them to take action though, was Katara, she too wasn't happy about the situation the least.

"What do you mean you won't teach us? I didn't travel across the entire world so you could tell me_ 'no'_!" she said angrily as she walked up to the old master, clearly feeling she was treated unfair.

Master Pakku looked at the girl with a cold expression before simply and hardly saying "No."

"But there must be other female waterbenders in this tribe!" Katara kept going, placing her hands in her hips trying to stay strong against the master.

"Here the women learn from Yugoda to use their waterbending to heal. I'm sure she would be happy to take you as her students despite your bad attitude" Master Pakku was still completely calm, not to mention cold, towards the young girl in front of him, but it was clear that he was mocking her.

Hua finally looked up at the man, feeling furious that her friend was treated like that "We _don't _want to heal! We wanna fight!" she exclaimed, walking up to them.

"I can see that. But our tribe has customs, rules" Master Pakku answered bluntly.

"Well your rules stink!" Katara then joined in again, recovering from her quick defeat.

Aang hurried to the side of his friends as support "Yeah! They're not fair. If you won't teach Katara and Hua, then-"

"Then what?" Master Pakku answered as he got to his feet again. Aang looked a bit unsure before giving his answer.

"Then I won't learn from you!" he said, surprising his two friends with his answer, before turning around ready to leave.

"Well have fun teaching yourself. I'm sure you'll do a great job" the master said, his expression seemed rather amusing because of Aang's answer.

"Wait, Aang didn't mean that" Hua quickly said, before looking worriedly at the bald boy. Both she and Katara ran up to Aang.

"You can't risk your training for us" Katara said in a low voice to Aang, making sure the waterbending master wouldn't hear her.

Hua nodded in agreement "You have to learn from Master Pakku… Even if he is a big jerk" the three friends looked back at the master with glum expressions and Aang finally nodded in accept, though it was certainly not with his good will.

The two girls decided to head for Yugoda's _training _session instead, though both of them not very happy about how the situation turned out. Deep down they've both believed they would make Master Pakku change his mind at some point, but it was the tribe's rules after all. And some rules.

"Brrr, I really am not meant to be in these cold waters" Hua murmured and pulled her hood up as a slight, but very cold, breeze passed her face.

"I guess growing up in the Fire Nation has made you a bit sore, Hua" Katara joked and kindly nudged her friend's arm with her own shoulder.

Hua sniffled as her nose started running again "I guess so" she sighed.

When the girls found the hut, Katara gently went inside as the first one.

"Umm hi, are you Yugoda?" she asked quietly.

"Are you here for the healing lesson?" an older woman with grey hair, resembling Katara's hairstyle asked, she had a gentle smile on her face and seemed much more of a people-person than Master Pakku. She was sitting on a large block of ice which seemed to float in the middle of a small basin, with a human-shaped doll in front of her, this being the practicing-doll.

Hua went inside right after Katara, though keeping her hood on, and looked around, she felt like whimpering; the only girls in there were many years younger than both her and Katara, they were sitting in a crescent-shape around Yugoda and the doll.

"I guess we are" Katara slightly sighed and took place next to one of the, possibly, youngest girls in the group. Hua had to follow, now when finally being inside the room it was too late to flee, so she settled down between two other girls.

Truly Yugoda _was _much friendlier than Master Pakku, she welcomed the two older girls; the group had clearly been in the middle of a lesson when Hua and Katara interrupted but Yugoda didn't seem to have any trouble with explaining everything one more time, neither did the girls have any trouble hearing it once more, in fact they had the same kind faces each and every one of them and none of them said a thing.

The lesson was long and the girls didn't get to do anything themselves, they had to listen to what the teacher had to say; Yugoda was explaining how water flew through the body, which directions, which patterns and finally how one would be able to remove and add water to the body itself and thereby how to heal it.

At a point Yugoda actually tried to encourage Hua to try and feel the water flowing in the doll, but as she'd never tried it before, Hua thanked no, afraid she might do something wrong. Instead Yugoda picked one of her usual students who clearly had been a good listener, because whatever she did, she knew what she was doing and she was really good at it.

After the lesson, the girls carried the doll outside of the house, while Katara went up to Yugoda Hua was still sitting on the floor, trying to feel the water in her own body.

"Thanks for the lesson" Katara said, both she and Hua had become in a bit of a better mood by thinking of something else during the lesson.

"So who's the lucky boy?" Yugoda suddenly asked with a knowingly smile.

"Huh?" Katara didn't quite understand her, and the question also made Hua to look dumbfound at them.

"Your betrothal necklace. You're getting married, right? The old woman asked with a smile as she pointed at the necklace Katara was wearing. Hua remembered it being a very traditional water tribe necklace, with the usual colors and shapes; it had been the same necklace Zuko had stolen from her back when they first met.

Katara looked towards her necklace and then smiled "Oh, no I don't think I'm ready for that yet. My grandmother gave my mother this necklace, and my mother passed it down to me" she explained.

That's when Yugoda looked closer at the necklace and got a sentimental look in her eyes "I recognize this carving! I don't know why I didn't realize sooner! You're the spitting image of Kana!"

Katara looked stunned at the older woman and backed away in surprise "Wait, how do you know my Gran-Gran's name?"

Hua heard that and quickly got to her feet, looking surprised at the two of them, she figured Katara meant her Grandmother.

"When I was about your age I was friends with Kana. She was born here, in the Northern Tribe" Yugoda explained, still rather sentimental but clearly happy of meeting the grandchild of an old friend.

Katara fell a prick in her heart and looked away "She never told me" she whispered and Hua figured she should stay out of their talk for now.

"Your grandmother had an arranged marriage with a young waterbender. He carved that necklace for her" Yugoda continued, though in a lower voice realizing Katara's sadness.

"If Gran-Gran was engaged, why did she leave?" the girl then asked, recovering from her gloom.

"I don't know. That's always been a mystery to me. She left without saying goodbye" Yugoda sighed in slight sadness and looked at the ground.

Hua pulled down her hood and was about to approach her friend in case she needed some friendly support, but before she reached Katara she said; "I think I need some fresh air" and she left the hut.

Hua looked after her younger friend with a slight sigh "Poor Katara" she mumbled.

"And who might you be?" Yugoda suddenly asked Hua, as if she hadn't seen her 'till now.

"My name is Hua, I'm from the-" but before Hua could say any more Yugoda interrupted her.

"You must be the child from the prophecy!" the old woman pointed at Hua with a surprised expression.

"Excuse me?" Hua was completely dumbfounded by now; she had no idea at all of what the old lady was talking about.

"Those tattoos. You were born with those, am I right?"

"Um, yeah I guess I was"

"Then there is no doubt! Young lady I knew your parents as well!" Yugoda gently placed her hands on Hua's shoulders.

"You-you did?" Hua was taken aback by what she heard that she actually felt her heart stop beating for a moment. She had never known her parents; in fact she had always wondered whatever might've happen to them, for them to leave her in the Fire Nation of all places.

"I sure did" Yugoda said and sat down on the floor with Hua in front of her "You see, those tattoos holds a prophecy with them; _It is said that when a child is born, with a blue butterfly pattern in its face, sorrow will spread across the tribe and curse everyone on its way._ I was the only one except your parents and the village's chief who knew of your birth, your parents were afraid of this prophecy and feared for your life and wellbeing, so they wanted sent you away, but at the same time a Fire Navyship attacked our village and kidnapped you and your parents… That was the last time I ever saw the two of them again. But how in the World did you manage to survive if they didn't?"

"…I guess my parents gave me away to Firelady Ursa then, I was raised in the Firelord's castle as a child, but was stolen away by waterbenders one day and left by a village in the Earth Kingdom" Hua then explained, though her voice low the whole time, it was very hard for her to take all this in, for her whole life she had no knowledge of her birthplace nor her parents, in less than two days she got to know of both of them.

She felt tears burning in her eyes "Do you think that my parents' deaths were caused by me? By the curse I mean" she gently touched her tattooed cheek with a shaky hand, she felt her lip starting to shiver and she began to cry.

"No, not at all! How could such a beautiful young woman cause the death of her own parents, just because of some prophecy?" Yugoda said feeling Hua's pain she pulled her into an embrace and let the girl cry out by her shoulder "You were such a lovely little baby, that it broke my heart to never see you again, I really feared you were going to die as well. But maybe it is faith that brought you back here" she explained in a soothing voice.

"Maybe you're right" Hua finally said wiping her tears away, slightly looking up at Yugoda again "Faith wanted me to finally see my old home and meet you again" she then smiled and sniffled a bit, those words almost caused the poor Yugoda to burst into tears as well, her expression became sentimental once more and she hugged the girl tightly.

When both women finally had pulled themselves together Yugoda then spoke "I can't believe you taught yourself waterbending, not to mention a waterbender even living in the Fire Nation's castle without being a slave" she sounded surprised by what Hua had been telling her.

"Not at all, in fact I was best friends with Prince Zuko. I've actually travelled with him for some months when I came here, he said he wanted me out of trouble, but I never understood what for" she shrugged.

"That boy must really mean something to you" Yugoda guessed and suddenly reached out for Hua's neck and caressed the Fire Nation-necklace Hua had received from Zuko for her birthday back then.

Hua gasped when she realized she hadn't taken it off yet and quickly hid it away.

"Don't worry child, I noticed it as soon as you stepped inside, but I didn't want to say anything. Though I can see you two are really close" she slightly giggled at Hua who was blushing by her words.

"You could say that" Hua slightly smiled as well "I think I have to leave now, Katara might still be waiting for me."

Yugoda smiled and then said "You'll do that, but come and see me again soon" Hua nodded with a smile and pulled her hood up before leaving the place.

"That sure took you long" Katara said when her friend finally came outside, Aang was standing beside her, not looking very pleased.

"Sorry, we had a lot to talk about" Hua rubbed the back of her head and then followed her friends back to their hut, as they did Hua explained what Yugoda had been telling her and both Katara and Aang looked rather stunned after the explanation.

"Wow, you really are special Hua" Aang said trying to smile, though his expression still seemed a bit glum, probably after his lesson with Master Pakku.

"I would never have expected there to be a prophecy like that in the Water Tribe" Katara said as she was thinking it all through.

"Me neither-" Hua quickly interrupted herself when she heard something far, far away. It was like a rumbling noise, like an explosion or something. The three of them turned around to see where the noise came from, but it was clearly way too far away to see it.

"What in the World was that?" Hua then asked in surprise.

"Maybe an ice quake" Katara suggested, though evidently surprised as well.

"I can fly up and check" Aang said and took out his glider, without waiting for an answer, and then flew about 10 feet in the air on his flying-device.

Hua and Katara looked up at the airbender, just waiting for him to get back and make report.

When Aang got back down and folded his glider again, he simply shrugged "I saw a small pillar of smoke, but it's very far away from here. It might've been a ship exploding."

"I see" Hua murmured trying to stay calm, but deep down she feared it might've been Zuko's ship, at any rate she hoped no one was hurt. Either way she didn't dare say anything to her friends right now.

_Hua would unquestionably have been very worried if she knew the truth, in the same moment the exact same ship, she had spent months on, was burning down after a great explosion._

_General Iroh was standing in front of it, staring at it in horror believing his nephew was still aboard and didn't make it out in time. The elder general clenched his fists and looked to the ground in despair, feeling he was about to cry when he suddenly heard splashing noises coming from… just below him._

_When Iroh looked down he was met with the angry eyes of his beloved and hurt nephew, the old man quickly kneeled and pulled the young man out of the water._

"_Zuko!" he pulled him into a tight embrace, still having a slight fear of losing his nephew._

"_I'm okay, Uncle" the prince declared with a rusty voice after drinking the seawater when being in the water, his face was slightly more scarred than normally. Beside his large scar around his left eye, he got a few bluemarks, some scratches and other bruises here and there, but he seemed pretty fine despite just being in the middle of an explosion._

"_What happened just now?" Iroh asked worriedly._

"_It was pirates, they'd been stacking my ship with explosives" Zuko growled underneath his breath._

"_You don't mean those pirates we met with so long ago?"_

"_I know it was them. I saw their ugly parrot! And I think I know who might've sent them"_

"_Who?"_

"_Zhao!"_

Hua, Katara and Aang were lying on comfy floor with their sleeping bags when Sokka entered the hut, since he had shown an interest to Princess Yue the chief had let him join the warrior-training sessions so he had something to do too on his stay, but he didn't look very happy. Not at all in fact.

"How's warrior training going?" Katara asked concerned because of his expression, but instead of answering Sokka kicked his sleeping bag before falling to his knees and flops on the bag right after.

"That bad?" Aang asked, now also very concerned, Hua knew very little of Sokka but she figured that something was wrong in the way he behaved so suddenly.

"No, it's Princess Yue. I don't get it. One minute she wants to go out with me and the next she's telling me to get lost!" Sokka explained in anger. Hua remembered Princess Yue, the girl with the white hair at the party; Sokka had shown great interest in her back then, so she figured they'd been going out tonight.

"So how's waterbending training?" Sokka asked and then looked around at all three of his friends, including Hua for a change.

Hua sighed and turned around; facing the wall and Katara buried her head in her sleeping bag, both of them remembering their first depression that day.

"Master Poophead won't teach them 'because they're _girls_" Aang explained.

There was a short moment of silence before Sokka then spoke; "Why don't _you_ teach them, Aang?"

Then Hua quickly turned and faced Katara, and they both knew they've gotten the same idea "Why didn't I think of that?" they said at the same time, both smiling.

Katara got up from her spot with a big grin on her face "At night, you can teach us whatever moves you learned from Master Pakku."

Then Hua jumped to her feet too and continued; "That way you have someone to practice with and we get to learn waterbending. Everyone's happy!"

"I'm not happy" Sokka complained.

"But you're never happy" Katara sighed and grapped Hua "C'mon Aang" the boy got to his feet and ran after the girls. The three of them swiftly found a nice hiding-place near the water in a quiet alleyway, a bridge just above them. Aang quickly bended some water from the canal up to his hands. He started bending the water around himself.

"Master Pakku said this move is all about sinking and floating" he explained and sent it over to Hua who tried to move the water around like Aang had shown, she smiled when she did it with ease.

"I think I know this move" she smiled and sent it further to Katara who also tried the same move out.

"I got it!" she claimed as she moved the water around, Hua noticed the girl clearly had gotten more control since their first meet, when suddenly the water began to whip around like crazy and then soared upwards.

"That was amazing!" Aang shouted as he had to hold on to his head in excitement.

"That wasn't me" Katara said in a low voice, when the three of them looked up towards the place the water flew, they were met with a mean glare from Master Pakku, who was bending the water, standing on the bridge above them.

He was clearly unhappy with all three of them and he showed his fury by bending the water into ice-needles and embedded them all in the bridge where he was standing.

Aang's voice grew nervous by Master Pakku's action "I-I was just showing the girls a few moves."

"You have disrespected me, my teachings, and my entire culture" the old man said, his voice icy.

"I'm sorry, I-" Aang tried to explain but was cut off by the elder man.

"You are no longer welcome as my student" Master Pakku declared and walked off, undoubting disappointed with their actions, leaving behind three astonished benders.

"We have to make him change his mind!" Hua said as they were running towards the gathering spot, the same place they had been partying in last night, Katara had agreed with Hua to talk to the chief and Aang had blindly followed. When they ran by their hut, Sokka quickly joined them and all four of them decided to approach the chief and Master Pakku together.

"What do you want me to do? Force Master Pakku to take Aang back as his student?" the chief asked sounding rather annoyed by the kids' request, the chief was sitting together with the elder men of the village, alongside his daughter Princess Yue and Master Pakku as well.

"Yes… Please" Hua asked, though aware of the craziness in her request, Katara was standing beside her, this time _she_ supported _her_ friend.

"I suspect he might change his mind if you swallow your pride and apologize to him" the chief suggested and then looked at Master Pakku.

Hua sighed and looked at Katara whose expression turned bitter, the idea of apologizing to him was hateful but she then looked at Aang and figured they _had _to do so, if Aang was going to master waterbending soon.

"Fine" Katara said, eying Hua before going further. Hua understood her plan and kept quiet too.

There was dead silence in the large hall, until Master Pakku broke the silence saying "I'm waiting, girls" his voice mocking, no doubt he would enjoy this moment.

Almost synchronically the girls' fists clenched and Hua looked up at the old master;

"No!" she spat and in pure anger she destroyed two large vases filled with water, near the chief and the others, and they both crumbled immediately.

Katara continued on both their behalves "No way are we apologizing to a sour old man like you!" as she spoke huge cracks in the ice-floor was created, Katara's anger as big as Hua's, the cracks reached all the way up to the chief as well, one stopping right beside Master Pakku.

"Uhh, girls?" Aang tried to break the ice, but quickly realized there was no way changing their minds now.

"We'll be outside if you're man enough to fight us!" Hua announced, her voice challenging for a change, which both Aang and Sokka noticed.

The men, including the Chief stiffened in chock by the girl's words and stared in horror at them, even Princess Yue was stunned.

The girls made a highfive for their teamwork just now and left the hall together, Aang and Sokka left behind. Aang swallowed hard "I'm sure they didn't mean that" he said but Sokka interrupted bluntly "Yeah, I think they _did_."

_Iroh had returned to Commander Zhao's ship and was sitting in his quarters having a cup of tea;_

"_I'm devastated to hear about Prince Zuko. Just devastated." Zhao claimed as he was about to take a sip of his tea, his voice seeming cheesy as he spoke, no doubt it truly was him who was behind the attack._

"_The Fire Lord will not be pleased he learns who was responsible" Iroh spoke, sounding heartbroken._

"_You know who was behind the attack?" Zhao asked, his expression showing his uncertainty._

"_Yes. Pirates! We had a run-in with them awhile back" Iroh explained and slammed his fist in the table, as if he didn't know it was Zhao's initiative. The younger commander smiled behind his teacup, satisfied that he wasn't being revealed._

"_They wanted revenge" Iroh explained further, his voice deep with sorrow, or so it sounded, that man was a good actor when he really needed to._

_Zhao kept quiet for a while and took another sip of his tea, then he spoke "So are you reconsidering my offer?"_

"_Yes I accept" Iroh announced as he bowed his head "It will be an honor to serve as your general" he nodded, Zhao felt pleased by this figuring the old general wouldn't have much else to do with his nephew deceased too. _

"_To the Fire Nation" Iroh said and raised his cup in a toast._

_Zhao grinned before raising his own cup as well "To victory"_

Aang and Sokka had finally caught up with the girls, who were walking, very determined, down the large stairs and towards an open place outside.

"Are you crazy, Katara? You're not going to win this battle!" Sokka tried to talk his sister back to her senses but apparently without luck.

"I know! I don't care!" she said, taking off her overcoat, throwing it at her brother, causing it to hit him in the face.

"Hua, you don't have to do this for me. I can find another teacher!" Aang on the other hand, tried to talk Hua back to her senses but neither did he have any chance in the task. Hua was also pulling off her own overcoat, though Aang having greater luck in catching it, than Sokka have had.

"I'm not doing it for you! Someone needs to slap some sense into that guy!" she shouted, for the first time Hua wasn't able to feel the cold weather around her, her anger had warmed her body up for her.

The girls stepped down on the open spot and waited, Sokka and Aang was still standing on the stairs not wanting to get too close to their furious friends. While standing there a couple of villagers were gathering around them to see what was going on with the two girls.

That's when Hua turned around, noticing Master Pakku practically strolling out of the halls "So, you finally decided to show up!" she shouted, but the older man ignored her and simply walked past her and Katara.

"Aren't you going to fight?" this time it was Katara to shout at the man.

"Go back to the healing huts with the other women where you belong" Master Pakku ordered, quite uncaring for the girls' words.

This was the last mock the girls could take, and like one waterbender they both bended some water from the ground and created it into a jointed whip and with a swift move from both girls, their whip swung across the air and hit Master Pakku on the back of his neck. The old man jumped in surprise by this and stopped immediately, without a doubt he had been ticked off by this.

He finally turned around to face the girls "Fine. You want to learn to fight so bad, study closely!" he shouted before then bending water from two large ponds on each of his sides, creating a big wave, circulating around himself.

Katara, being the most eager to fight him, ran straight towards Pakku with great speed, but being the great waterbender as Pakku is, he quickly had the wave flush at Katara causing her to fall and before she was able to counterattack, the master had the wave circulating around both of them, like a closed fence of water.

He then started bending the water closer towards himself, forcing Katara to step closer as well.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you!" he shouted, though still in a mocking voice.

"That's good!" a voice suddenly yelled from above causing Pakku to look up in wonder, suddenly Hua landed in front of the master giving him one of his own mocking glares "Then I have can hurt you instead!" suddenly a wave swiped towards Pakku, coming from Hua's feet causing the old master to lose control of his own wave, breaking it and thereby freeing Katara.

When Hua finally landed on the ground, she fell a deep pain in her legs, she had apparently already overworked them and too hard at that, but she couldn't stop now, she wished to keep up with the battle. This was about honor! She got to her feet again and wiped a few drops of sweat away from her forehead.

Katara saw her chance to run at Pakku again, though this time Pakku swiftly created something resembling an ice-shield in front of him, almost looking like a wave that had frozen before him. Though this being his mistake, Katara used it as a ramp to slide up against and thus landing on the stairs behind Pakku.

Hua, still trying to make her legs cooperate had to watch as Katara with ease figured out the master's next move, she used the ice from the stairs to keep her frozen to them so she wouldn't fall or trip. The girl's timing was perfect, because in the same moment Pakku had liquefied the ramp once again and with great power tossed the water at Katara, but because of the ice she wasn't thrown over, instead she rapidly pushed the water away with her bending.

"You can't knock me down!" she shouted at the master, hearing the cheers from people behind her.

"Go Katara! Go Hua!" Aang also cheered, now very excited about their clash.

Hua finally found her strength to continue because of Aang's cheering, she gave him a short grateful smile, before looking solemn towards Katara.

"Together!" she shouted and Katara nodded jumping off the stairs running towards Pakku, alongside Hua, both of them screaming like amazons.

Before the old man was able to create a proper defense, the two young girls broke through and started attacking him directly and a short fist-fight broke loose. But frustrated by the small loss, Pakku rapidly created two large pillars of water, each of them swallowing the girls, sending them flying down into the two large ponds.

For a short moment Pakku felt like enjoying a soon victory, but that's when the girls rose from the ponds again. Taking advantage of their watery surroundings, they both created their own ice-pillar in front of them, and almost thinking like one, or like twins, they both started to shoot slivers of the ice towards the master. Flying like razor-sharp discs at the master, though he managed to avoid and break them before they would hit him, yet two of them was able to cut off a bit of his long beard, being so close to his face he could see his reflection for a few seconds and he was actually stunned by their techniques and teamwork for a while.

Katara then jumped out of the water bending a big amount of water towards Pakku with great skills, but the master got ahold of her water quickly and used it for his own good; making it into a large wave behind him and then sending it straight at Katara causing the young girl to almost get flushed away with the water.

Instead she landed by the front of the stairs, now being both cold and out of breath, she had to think fast. But what Master Pakku had forgotten all about, was Hua who had seen her chance to sneak up on him, using two large snow-pillars close to the master, using her bending to push them forward, causing them to fall his way.

Master Pakku only reacted within the last seconds and with a large _'poof'_ the pillars got reduced to simple snow. Hua gasped

"Well, I'm impressed. You are a pair of excellent waterbenders!" Pakku looked at each of the girls, his expression not quite as mocking but not exactly appreciative either.

"But you still won't teach any of us, will you?" Hua shouted, already knowing the answer.

"No!" Master Pakku answered bluntly, before getting ready to continue the fight. Hua then frowned and threw a large wave at the master, but even though being an old man, Pakku didn't seem tired at all, he was able to keep up for a long time and before any of them knew of it, Pakku was right beside Katara knocking her over, causing her to drop her necklace.

Hua noticed this and quickly ran towards Katara's side, Master Pakku was now standing a few feet away from the younger girl, looking superior compared to her lying on the ground breath-taken from the last attack.

Hua managed to step in front of Katara, protecting her in case she wasn't fast enough for Pakku's next attack, the elder man had already created a large water-pillar from one of the ponds, but instead of wiping it at the girls, he made the water into large, sharp ice-needles and sent them flying swiftly towards them, an attack none of them were able to dodge.

A huge gasp escaped the crowd as they looked down at the girls in horror, actually thinking Master Pakku speared them both.

That's when they both started struggling to get loose, the huge needles only keeping them in place, like bars, not hurting them at all, like Master Pakku had promised to begin with.

"This fight is over" Pakku declared as he calmly walked towards the girls, not the least exhausted, as expected from such a great master, but he truly thought the girls had put up quite a fight. Despite being girls!

"Come back here! We're not finished yet!" Katara shouted as Pakku walked past them.

"Yes you are" he simply said, but suddenly he stopped when he noticed Katara's necklace lying in the snow, his expression changing right away.

"This is my necklace" he said in something that sounded like awe.

"No it's not! It's mine! Give it back!" Katara yelled and struggling even harder.

"I made this sixty years ago, for the love of my life" Pakku said, his voice starting to sound sentimental "For Kana."

The large ice-prison that kept the girls in place disappeared right away, Hua sunk to her knees in no time, her legs completely exhausted from all the exercise, she almost felt out of training, this being a reminder of how long it had been since she last had been training her legs.

"My Gran-Gran was supposed to marry you?" Katara stood beside Hua, her hair loose from all the struggling and fighting, she was staring in surprise at the waterbending master, who had his back turned to her.

_Iroh, who was now working under Commander Zhao was walking down the hallway in the large Fire Navy-ship, he was seeking something. Or someone. He stopped in the middle of the deserted hallway when a lone soldier stepped up to him, standing right beside him. They didn't face each other, figuring it would be too risky._

"_Our plan is working perfectly. Zhao doesn't suspect a thing" Iroh said in a low voice._

_The soldier, still wearing his helmet pulled off the visor, showing his face; it was Zuko "You didn't have to do this" he whispered back._

"_No nephew of mine is going to stow away on a ship without some backup!" Iroh slightly joked._

"_Thank you, Uncle" Zuko tried to smile a bit and felt sincerely thankful for Iroh's help earlier, yet Iroh could also see his nephew's eyes cloud with some other emotion._

"_Maybe we shouldn't have let Hua take off like that, earlier?" he slightly suggested._

"_I don't want her to get involved, ne'er do I want her to suffer anymore" Zuko answered staring at the ground, his fists slightly clenched by the mentioning of Hua "I've caused her enough pain already, besides she's back where she belongs."_

"_You really do care for her, don't you Prince Zuko?" Iroh asked but before expecting an answer__ he turned his head, hearing a small noise from further down the hallway;  
"Someone's coming! he announced and with those words Zuko placed his visir on his helmet again, hiding away his face _

"_Stay hidden until we get to the North Pole and the Avatar will be yours! Good luck!" Iroh said before the two of them separated once again._

"I carved this necklace for your grandmother when we got engaged. I thought we would have a long, happy life together. I loved her." Pakku muttered in sadness, reliving the long lost memory in his mind.

"But she didn't love you, did she? It was an arranged marriage" Katara suggested and walked up to the master "Gran-Gran wouldn't let your tribe's stupid customs run her life. That's why she left. It must have taken a lot of courage."

The two of them stood quietly for a while. Pakku gently putting the necklace around Katara's neck again before saying "This belongs with you…" his voice still a bit low.

Hua still panted heavily when she had finally gained balance on her sore legs again when suddenly she heard shouting.

"Hua! I have good news for you!" Yugoda came running towards the breathless girl while she was trying to blow her hair away from her face.

When the elder lady finally got up to her she was smiling all over her face "I checked the scrolls regarding our tribe's history, and it says that the child in the prophecy is allowed to being taught waterbending; let it be for healing _or fighting_. You see, even though you were said to bring sorrow to our village, you were also meant to bring glory and happiness too; therefore you're _meant_ to learn how to fight with waterbending!"

"You serious?" Hua asked in surprise when she finally caught her breath again, she found it a bit hard to believe though.

"Yes! The scrolls never lie!" she promised her "And I'm sure it wouldn't mind your friend to learn waterbending too" Yugoda pointed out, eying Katara with a slight smile, remembering her being her childhood friend's granddaughter.

"That's great! Katara you hear that?" Hua shouted and hugged her friend tightly. Katara's mood quickly changed to much happier when hearing that and she hugged Hua as well.

"_You're_ the child from the prophecy?" Pakku's surprised voice suddenly spoke beside them; he was stared amused at Hua, his eyes particularly noticing her tattoos.

Master Pakku seemed as if he was thinking for a very long time before speaking "Fine. You'll both meet up at the training-spot tomorrow at sunrise, you won't dare to be late" he said, in a threatening voice before walking away.

Katara and Hua wasn't sure whether to fret about Pakku's so-called threat or they should feel excited, at any rate they both showed up the next day. When they got there the lesson had already started and Pakku and his students, including Aang, where in the middle of a warming up-exercise.

But when the master noticed the girls he looked at them with a grim expression "What do you think you're doing?" he asked, and for a moment the girls fell nervous about Pakku's earlier _'request'._ That's when the master suddenly smiled kindly at them for the first time ever "It's past sunrise, you're late" he declared and made a waterbending-stance, preparing to resume the lesson.

"Good to see you" Aang said smiling at the girls as he took the same stance as Pakku.

"You too" the girls said together, giggling before taking the same stance as well.

* * *

***sigh* Finally I'll be able to write about the actual battle for the Nothern Water Tribe-whatsoever. And believe you me; it's gonna be intense in every way possible! ;D We'll see more to Zuko, yay more relationship! 8D**

**And in case you were wondering about my 'italic writing' whenever Zuko and Iroh was mentioned, was to differentiate between the two storylines, well, I pretty much have to create TWO storylines whenever the two of them aren't together :P**

**But to be honest, I'm pretty happy about how Hua's past turned out - you should've guessed those markings would mean SOMETHING, duh xD And I've always liked Yugoda, she seemed like such a lovely character and it was a bit saddening she was only mentioned in episode 18, so I wanted to give her a bigger part to play! :/**

**I hope you guys enjoyed my drama-action-whatsoever chapter, I promise next will be better! C'ya! :D**


	18. Siege of the North Part 1

**Okay, apparently I'm horrible at keeping my promises so from now on I will not, repeat: NOT promise exactly when and how I'll upload the next chapter, 'cause I can't seem to follow it anyways x.X**

**Well, I've just come home from a field trip to London, which was just in time if you ask me. At least we got home before the demonstrations started, phew. And I can honestly say I've missed this fanfiction quite a lot! Seriously my fingers are aching, but I still want to continue.**

**I'm not too sure whether I should've splitted it into two chapters, or not, because this is actually just ONE episode. Realize the italic writing is Iroh and Zuko - I didn't include Zhao and Iroh in the end, 'cause I thought there were too many "meanwhile"-moments already, and we all now what happens anyways - besides I don't like Zhao that much x'D Why do you think I make Hua call him monkey face? o.o**

**At any rate, I present to you 21 pages of pure awesome (I hope), it became quite hard to have any variation in my synonyms when I was closer to the end.**

**But may I add that you should look forward for the part where Zuko struggles to get inside The Water Tribe's city, I think that was the best part of it :3**

**Well, I'm not gonna spoil anything though!**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

* * *

The silence was killing, the pupils held their breaths as the next match was about to start.

They were practicing by the top of one of the many waterfalls in the city, the air feeling much cooler up here than down in the more busy part of the city.

Hua sat in the crowd, wearing a knowingly expression, as she watched her younger friend get ready to duel one of the older boys in their class.

Katara had the same expression on her face and stood silently as the boy was about to make his move. He on the other hand looked rather nervous, and for a good reason.

When the boy was about to form a great ball of ice between his palms and throw it at Katara, the young girl smiled and quickly took control of the iceball; melting it back into its liquid form and sent it right towards her opponent with incredible speed.

The poor boy had no time to react and the wave flung him up in the air and froze, holding him in his place; only his head, arms and legs free yet.

Katara lowered her hands again with a satisfied smile as Master Pakku stepped up to her.

"Nice try Pupil Sangok" the master addressed the failed pupil still frozen in the ice "-A couple of more years and you might be ready to fight a sea sponge" he continued, his voice calm as if he was actually trying to compliment his failed student, who was still struggling to break free of the ice.

Hua stood from the crowd and went up to Katara "You've really improved your skills fast, Katara" the older girl smiled and gently patted her friend's shoulder while Master Pakku smiled at them both.

"Thanks Hua, but I could never be as good as you. To think that we've both had to learn water bending ourselves, but you've mastered it much better than me, even though _I _lived in the Water Tribe" Katara giggled.

"Right" Hua rolled her eyes with a slight smile, recently Katara had been going around with her small jealousy talk of how Hua's bending were better than hers, compared to the fact that Hua never lived in any Water Tribe, long enough to be able to know of water bending. Katara on the other hand had known it, yet also had to learn on her own.

"Good thing I didn't learn fire bending, huh?" Hua joked and crossed her arms, ignoring Katara's friendly jealousy. Hua had tried to keep the memories out of her head while she was in the Water Tribe, but memories of her being with Zuko still slumbered just beneath her skull. She couldn't help thinking about him, was he alright? Did he miss her? And most of all did Iroh try to make him play the Tsung Gi horn again? Well, maybe that wasn't so important…

The girls heard the ice break and Pupil Sangok fell to the ground, when the ice returned to water again. It was Master Pakku who had freed the boy from the ice and looked the rest of his class over. It was a small crowd of beaten up boys, who was left on the sideline. Half of them looked like they were going to faint and others had frozen bodyparts.

"Would anyone care for a rematch with Katara and Hua?" Master Pakku asked bluntly, yet the only answer he got was a low moaning revealing the agony the boys seemed to have suffered, from their new classmates' abnormal strength. The girls had really shown their true potential and the boys stood no chance, they were completely done for today, probably for the rest of the week.

Hua gave a cocky nod at the boys, and one of them looked like he was about to faint in weariness.

"Girls, you have advanced more quickly than any student I have ever trained" Master Pakku said as he suddenly approached the girls, his expression was the same as ever, but his voice seemed almost friendly as he spoke to his newest students.

"You have proven that with fierce determination, passion and hard work you can accomplish anything" he continued, but then turned his head towards the third of his newest students.

"Raw talent alone is not enough" he murmured, a bit of annoyance was heard in his voice as he looked towards the Avatar.

Aang was sitting in a pile of newfallen snow, playing with an airball which carried the lemur, Momo, on top of it. He looked quite relaxed, yet he had not been concentrating at all on class 'till now.

"Pupil Aang!" Master Pakku finally said which made Aang to remove his ball of air quickly, forcing Momo to fall and land on top of the Avatar's head, screaming in surprise.

"Yes, Master Pakku?" Aang said nervously and quickly sat up, trying to look alive.

"Care to step into the sparring circle? I figure since you've found time to play with house pets you must have already mastered waterbending" Master Pakku said, though it was probably meant as an order. Master Pakku might've gotten softer now that the girls had proven their worth towards him, and Aang had become his student again, but he was still a tough old master and not to be taken lightly at all. He expected a certain respect from his pupils, even if that pupil was the Avatar it made no difference.

Aang smoothly bended himself to his feet, with a small gust of air and smiled as he usually did. Momo had leapt off of his head and sat by the snow pile.

"I wouldn't say mastered but check this out" the boy announced and focused on the pile of snow behind him, which caused Momo to jump in surprise as the poor lemur probably had thought, that he had found a safe place to sit for once. The snow stuck to Aang like mud and while the boy kept twirling around, the snow kept shaping until he had created a snow Avatar around his body, with the same smile as Aang had.

The snowman didn't stand for long though, Momo, possibly feeling and bit groggy that Aang didn't play with him anymore, suddenly jumped at his owner causing the snowman, and therefore Aang, to fall.

This might be really fun for the boy and his lemur, but Master Pakku and his two _star pupils_ it was anything but fun and games. All three of them looked at Aang with a serious and annoyed look, realizing the boy wasn't taking water bending serious at all Pakku simply shook his head. Afterwards class was dismissed.

Master Pakku had wanted to give Aang a reprimand for being so careless during lessons, but after he had made that foolish snowman Aang had kept on playing in the snow with Momo, which had made Pakku realize it wouldn't help much.

Katara and Hua sat together, not far away from where Aang was playing, on a block of ice. It hadn't been long, but the two of them had already been bonding greatly, discovering none of them had ever had a real _girl_friend to talk to and certainly not one who also happened to be a water bender.

"You know what? I think the next time we get to fight anyone; we should definitely combine our strengths, just like when we both fought Master Pakku" Hua suggested with a smile.

"Good idea!" Katara declared "It was such a fantastic experience, I'm just glad I got to fight alongside you. Had you been on Master Pakku's side, I probably would've lost within seconds" Katara giggled and placed her hand on Hua's shoulder.

Hua smiled and shook her head "You would probably have had a harder time, but you wouldn't lose. As you've already said yourself; you grew up in a Water Tribe, you should have more experience than me, and I'm not talking about bending, I'm talking about strategy and basic stuff. Those are things I never have been taught, but you figured them out, didn't you?"

Katara was about to object when suddenly it started snowing. No, it wasn't snow. It was black and Katara knew exactly what that meant.

The smell already clung to the air and it was horrible, the black flakes slowly started covering the ground around them.

Hua stood from her seat and looked up, thousands of black flakes kept falling. When she sniffed the air she recognized the bad stench right away. It was the same as when her village was destroyed.

"Soot" she stated when one of the black flakes landed in her palm, not melting like normal snowflakes would do.

"This cannot be good" she heard Katara whisper beside her, and when Hua looked out into the horizon she saw big pillars of smoke ascending from what looked like chimneys, on a ship. They were still very far away, but Hua could just make out the silhouettes of them. Those were without a doubt Fire Navy ships; they had travelled all the way to The Northern Water Tribe. But for what purpose?

That's when Hua noticed had, who had stopped playing when the soot fell around them and it quickly hit her. Of course! The firebenders were after Aang, but did that mean Zuko would be there? But that didn't fit in anywhere; he had told her that she would be safe in the Water Tribe. Why would he say such a thing, if it wasn't true?

Hua quickly snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Katara pulling at her arm, Aang had gotten up to the girls and the people around them seemed very bewildered and terrified. She thought she could hear shouting from down in the main streets of the city, but otherwise it was very quiet around them.

"They're closing in on us" she murmured and looked at Katara with a nervous expression.

_At the leading ship, Iroh had just received orders from Admiral Zhao, to tell the captains to get ready to attack the Nothern Water Tribe. It wouldn't be long before their entire navy would be by the Tribe, and then they would be unstoppable._

_Iroh went down the hall inside the navy ship, looking for his nephew. He quickly noticed a guard standing beside an iron barrel; he looked like he was waiting. When Iroh came closer the guard looked his way and let out a sigh of relief. It was Zuko alright. _

_But the coast wasn't clear for them to speak face to face, Zuko, still pretending to be one of the guards, turned his back at Iroh as if he was about to leave again. This was a good strategy because suddenly a couple of actual guards went by, down another hall._

_Iroh finally managed to approach when they had left and whispered; "__We'll be landing soon. Do you have a plan?"_

_Zuko pulled down the visor on his helmet and eyed the elder man "I'm working on it Uncle" he promised and quickly put back his visor, in case any more guards would arrive._

"_And what about Hua? Won't she be in your way?" Iroh asked, sounding concerned on behalf of the waterbender who wouldn't know a thing about this major attack afoot. _

_Zuko was quiet for a while, Iroh couldn't quite figure out if he didn't wish to answer or if he was actually thinking of a good answer. He might as well not have thought it through at all, but Iroh didn't want to upset his nephew, not now when their plan was so close to succeeding._

_Zuko felt bewilderment attack his brain from all sides. Truly he didn't know what to do, when Hua would find out of the attack. And what if she did? Would it be too late to save her? Or would she even let him explain? Either way he had to think fast, there wasn't much time left._

The alarm drums had started sounding all over the Water Tribe village and people were running for their lives, to get to the great halls. Whenever these drums sounded people would emerge to the exact same place were Aang and his friends had been bidden welcome back when they first arrived. It was the usual gathering spot in this city.

Compared to the big problem ahead, people weren't panicking as one would think, but instead they quietly ran to the halls, not stopping for anything though.

Hua and Katara were running alongside Aang and Momo, they didn't get to see if Master Pakku had run too but figured he must've already made it there. Hua deeply hoped Yugoda would make it too, recently she had been feeling a strong attachment to the elder lady. Yugoda had revealed a part of Hua's past which she had never known before; the fact that her tattoos meant she was part of a prophecy and that Yugoda herself had been the midwife to deliver Hua when she was born.

Her family had disappeared and now Yugoda was the only individual whom Hua could cling to, she felt a sting in her heart just by the thought of the elder woman being hurt and she ran even faster towards the hall, despite the pain in her legs she kept on.

When they finally arrived at the halls, it was already filled with people, probably the entire city was gathering in there. The three friends moved towards one of the ice pillars to the left and settled down, it wasn't long after that Sokka joined them, though his face looked glum. Katara was about to ask what was wrong when suddenly Chief Arnook started speaking:

"The day we have feared for so long has arrived. The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness I call my family here before me, knowing well that some of these faces are about to vanish from our tribe" he stated, looking out at the city of frightened people, Hua felt another sting in her heart, when hearing the words _disappear _and _forever_ fearing what might come.

"But they will never vanish from our hearts. Now, as we approach the battle for our existence" the chief continued as he raised his arms into the air "I call upon the great spirits! Spirit of the Ocean! Spirit of the Moon! Be with us!" he prayed and looked to the sky.

Then afterwards he silently lowered his arms again before continuing "I'm going to need volunteers for a dangerous mission" he finally said.

It wasn't before long that one boy had volunteered, "Count me in", it was a voice right next to Hua and the others. The boy who had stood up was Sokka, his face now filled with determination, yet it seemed only to cover his gloominess.

When Hua looked up at the chief again, she noticed his daughter Princess Yue grow worried. She remembered Sokka to have been quite fond of the princess and now they seemed to be pretty serious about each other.

But Yue wore a betrothal necklace, which meant Sokka wasn't able to be with her, Hua figured this was why they both looked so sad and she couldn't really blame them.

"Sokka" Katara then said, trying to make him stay but Sokka didn't listen, instead he went up towards Chief Arnook and soon many other men would follow him. All volunteering for the mission.

"Be warned" Chief Arnook spoke up again "Many of you will not return. Come forward to receive my mark if you accept the task" but as he finished, none of the men regretted stepping forward, not even Sokka who had been the first to take action.

"This must mean a lot to him" Hua heard Katara mumble, she was right, Sokka's movements had only grown steadier after the chief's warning as if he actually wished to die from this mission. Hua had to squeeze Katara's hand, trying to comfort her friend and herself.

The men formed a line towards Chief Arnook, who began to paint a mark on each of their foreheads, to show that they would fight this battle. Master Pakku and Princess Yue now stood on each side of the chief, to show respect to the brave young men who had volunteered.

When it became Sokka's turn, it was clear as day that Yue was against his decision but she held up her façade as soon as Sokka's looked her in the eye. Feeling neglected by his love interest he turned his back at her, and was led to another room with the other men. But what he didn't see was the saddened Yue who had begun to cry in silence as she feared he would not return.

"You know what? I feel really sorry for them" Aang then said and got to his feet, they had all probably seen it, that Sokka and Yue really felt something deep for each other, but there was nothing to be done about it.

"You're right. I've never seen my brother look so sad, it's actually frightening. I mean I'm used to his carefree self, not that glum guy, just now" Katara muttered and hugged herself tightly, as if to provide Sokka with some warmth through thoughts.

Hua nodded in agreement, though she wasn't able to speak. This scenery just now had reminded her in deep strokes of her relationship, or what seemed like a relationship, with Zuko. She felt a lump build up in her throat and the burning feeling of tears pressing forward. But she managed to swallow the lump and blink the tears away, just before her friends got to notice and then said "Let's go outside for a while, I need some fresh air."

Aang and Katara quietly followed without objection, they might've felt the pressure in Hua's voice when she spoke but they had silently agreed.

When outside Aang sat on a pylon on top of the stairs, he looked into the horizon expecting the ships to show up at any minute. Since the soot had fallen from the sky, it was like the ships had completely disappeared again, but he knew they would be there soon enough.

Katara and Hua stood beside Aang, Hua didn't bother to look up, still slightly fighting a few tears, she had pulled up her hood not wanting to show her weak side to her friends.

"The stillness before battle is unbearable" a voice sounded behind them, it was Chief Arnook "Such a quiet dread" he murmured, looking to the horizon as well, his worries just as enormous as Aang's.

"I wasn't there when the Fire Nation attacked my people" Aang sounded more serious than ever, when Hua looked she saw his expression showing strong confidence, something she hadn't seen in the boy's face before. "I'm gonna make a difference this time" he stated then, before standing. He was ready, for the Fire Nation's attack.

Seeing the Avatar's assurance shine like that, made Hua feel safe. She pulled off her hood and clenched her fists. If this was really going to happen, she would fight too. Her motive was just the same as Aang's, and she would not bow down until the firebenders would leave the Water Tribe for good.

Chief Arnook's soldiers were lined up on the great wall of the city, armed for war, standing ready to bid the Fire Nation welcome. Chief Arnook stood next to them and in the front was Aang sitting on Appa, as well as Katara, Hua and Sokka.

They all kept quiet while watching for the Fire Navy ships, they would possibly be there soon.

Suddenly a small flash was seen in the horizon as if something was fired. There was no doubt it was them, but before Aang could call to action a huge fireball hit the outer walls of the city, creating a nasty earthquake which sent waterbenders flying backwards, away from the walls.

The fireball had left a gigantic hole in the outer walls. It was now it had begun for real.

Soon another fireball would follow the first one, yet this didn't hit the walls, instead it went further and exploded inside the city in one of the many water canals, causing the water to, like a giant geyser, splash to all sides with enormous power.

Hua had fallen backwards and hit one of her legs against a block of ice, and instantly fell to her knees. She didn't feel the pain at first; she fought too much to see because of the thick smoke created by the fireballs.

But when she got to her legs she felt a vicious pain from her leg, she looked down and noticed her bandage had turned red by the middle of her shin, she gritted her teeth trying to withstand it as much as possible.

She finally fought her way out of the smog and looked around, yet she didn't get to see much because a third fireball suddenly hit the great walls again. Hua almost lost her balance but managed to lean against something; she couldn't quite figure out what it was until she looked up and saw Appa. Aang's sky bison. Aang sat on top of him with his glider in his hands.

"Yip yip!" the young boy shouted at his bison, but before Appa could soar through the sky Hua quickly ran up to his side "Aang wait! Let me come with you!" she shouted and Aang quickly turned his attention to his friend.

"Can you?" he asked sounding concerned, he probably noticed her injury but Hua just nodded her eyes shining with self-assurance, she wouldn't let her legs control her life, not now when she had found her home and the Fire Nation threatened to destroy it.

Aang nodded back at her and with a swift movement, he airbended Hua up into the saddle Appa was wearing and took off with a 'yip yip'.

Hua gasped in fright as the sky bison flew high up in the air with a roar, Hua had never flown before in her life, this was clearly a whole new world for her.

"Amazing" she whispered as she looked around at the clouds, she almost felt tears in her eyes because of the strong wind. But then her mind got fixed on something else, she saw the Fire Navy ships closing in on her homeland, still furiously shooting fireballs towards it.

Hua crawled up to the front of Appa's saddle and stared at a fireball which had course right towards them.

"Um, A-Aang.." Hua stammered a bit nervous, deep inside her head she rethought if she had made the right decision to go with Aang, than to stay back and defend the city.

Aang didn't say anything but quickly got to his feet, having a firm grip around his glider he suddenly batted the fireball out of the way with great force. Hua felt faint for a short while, she had really thought for a moment they were goners, but Aang managed to surprise her just in time.

"I'll take it from here! Cover me from the air!" he announced, swiftly folding out his glider.

"Okay, be careful!" Hua shouted right before Aang jumped from Appa, gliding down towards the Fire Navy ships.

Hua watched as he landed on one of them starting to fight the soldiers on the deck, that's when she realized she was now in control of Appa "Why did I agree to this? I cannot fly a bison!" she squealed in panic and was ready to close her eyes and cover up in the saddle but before she could Appa roared as if trying to make her regain her bravery.

"I don't know what that just meant, Appa, but you're right! I can do this!" with gritted teeth Hua managed to crawl on top of Appa's head and grapped the reins with steady hands. She tried with all her might, not to start panicking again when steering Appa to the right before a fireball hit them.

"Phew" she sighed in relief as the fireball instead hit a glacier far away from the Water Tribe, but suddenly she heard a deafening sound from the ships.

"What the-?" one of their many catapult had slammed a huge fireball into its own hull, leaving a big hole. Hua smiled as she noticed Aang fleeing from a bunch of soldiers and realized it was his doing, then she grabbed ahold of the reins again and steered Appa around one of the ships, aiming for the back of it.

"Okay Appa, steady now" Hua pleaded as she made the beast fly in a straight line now and nervously tried to stand on top of Appa's head. She feared she might fall, but got a reassuring, kind growl from the bison and found the courage to stand.

She breathed slowly, figuring she might have a bit of acrophobia now that she was so high in the air, but she had to concentrate. Then she placed her focus on the water, some of these ships could easily get trapped in ice and that was exactly her intention.

She bended the water into the air with a swift hand-movement, and like a great wave it flushed over the Fire Navy ship she was targeting and as she closed her fist the water froze and captured the ship in a great chunk of ice.

She grinned when she noticed the soldiers run around on the deck, trying to firebend themselves out from the ice, but her chunk was way too big and stable for them to destroy it.

Hua turned her attention to another ship and soon did the same movement, as she had done the other one, the firebenders didn't seem to notice Appa at all and certainly not the cause of the ice blocks.

Within minutes she had at least ten navy ships captured in ice boulders, she felt a tad sweaty and rubbed her forehead, looking for the closest ship she could trap this time. But suddenly Appa roared and dived towards the ship Aang were still at, causing Hua to lose her balance yet she rapidly got ahold of the reins before falling off of Appa's head.

"What's wrong Appa?" she shouted, but she hadn't needed to ask, when they got closer to the ship she caught a glimpse of Aang now avoiding the attacks of a single soldier. This man looked really nasty; he didn't wear any uniform like the other soldiers, instead he looked like a barbarian and threw big hammers at Aang. These kept coming back to him, because of a long chain that was linked to the hammers.

The man had suddenly Aang cornered and was ready to make the final blow, but Appa was too quick and swiftly grabbed the man with one of his paws and with a roar he threw the now defenseless guy into the sea.

"Nobody messes with the bison!" Hua yelled as the man where floating around in the water.

"Appa! Hua!" Aang shouted happily in surprise to see them both and ran up to meet them, he jumped up and hugged Appa's forehead "Thanks for the rescue!"

Hua smiled at him but then the ship started rumbling unexpectedly, and a gigantic icicle shot through the deck of the ship, where the catapult had been, and trapped it.

Hua gazed down towards the water and noticed many, many small boats filled with waterbenders. They had bended, what appeared to Hua, as a mountain of ice underneath the ship and even trapped some of the soldiers inside it as well.

The benders waved up at them to signal that everything was under control now and Aang sat up next to Hua on Appa's head and let him ascend. But what met their eyes was even more terrifying than the few fire navy ships before.

They had all seen a Fire Navy before, but this was approximately _all_ the ships they could gather, not just from the Fire Nation but from the Earth Kingdom colonies alike. The sea was almost black from all the ships gathered just few miles away from them.

"You've gotta be kidding me" Aang murmured, both he and Hua stared at the ships in horror as they slowly, but for sure, moved closer to the Water Tribe.

_Zhao was standing in the wheelhouse admiring what he thought of as an art-piece, as fireballs started raining down at the Water Tribe, he smiled vigorously knowing he was close to success._

_He would surpass Iroh greatly by winning this fight; the old retired general had failed in concurring Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom and the city which would not be overthrown. Zhao had remembered this perfectly and was disappointed in his senior general for being too weak, he could've won the battle but decided to take his forces back._

_Speaking of the devil, Iroh had now entered the wheelhouse as well._

"_It's almost twilight, Admiral. As your military consultant I must advise you to halt your attack" Iroh warned, his voice unusually serious. Iroh secretly feared for Hua's life, he guessed she would still be by the Water Tribe which meant she would be in great danger if they attacked now. But this wasn't the only reason for his worry._

"_The waterbenders draw their power from the moon and it is nearly full tonight. You should wait and resume the attack at daybreak" he explained, but the admiral didn't seem to bother too much._

"_Oh, I'm well aware of the moon problem and I am working on a solution" Zhao answered, there was a shadow over his eyes revealing he had a wicked plan in mind "But for now, daybreak it is."_

_Orders was given and the entire navy anchored and stopped their attack for now._

It had become noon when Aang and Hua landed by the shore on the walls and were met by Katara and Princess Yue. Aang hadn't spoken a word since they saw all the ships closing in on the Water Tribe. His face had been so glum; Hua hadn't dared ask what was wrong, besides she was just as shocked as Aang. The Fire Nation meant this seriously, what was Admiral Zhao up to?

"I can't do it" Aang declared and smoothly slipped down from Appa's head, he leaned against the beast's foreleg and sighed heavily.

Hua, still sitting on Appa, looked down at Aang and didn't object, how could she? That large a navy was impossible for anyone to fight, even the Avatar, and with Aang's limited powers he still had a long way to go.

Aang put his hands to his head, rubbing it slightly trying to shut the thought of the Fire Navy out and repeated "I can't do it."

"What happened?" Katara asked worriedly as she and Yue got up to them.

"We must've taken out a dozen of Fire Navy ships, but there's just too many of them" Hua announced and jumped down from Appa's head too, gently petting him as a thank you for letting her ride him without Aang.

"I can't fight them all" Aang muttered, clearly traumatized from the sight.

"But you have to! You're the Avatar!" Princess Yue insisted, not aware of the strong number of ships out there or the emotions shut up in Aang at the very moment.

"I'm just a kid" Aang whispered and buried his face between his knees, now clearly in despair of what might happen.

Katara walked up to him, kneeling beside him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

They all went silent for minutes; Hua suddenly felt her legs hurt even worse now, probably because of the injury earlier but it was a pain she hadn't felt for many years, as if her injuries were completely new and she felt to her knees.

Princess Yue gasped in surprise as she heard Hua wince in agony and even Aang looked up in astonishment by Hua's sudden sound of ache.

"Hua, are you alright?" Katara asked anxiously as she saw Hua's face, she looked pale compared to her normal self. Katara placed a hand on her forehead but quickly pulled back.

"You're burning hot!" she shrieked.

"I'm fine, it's just my leg" Hua whispered and held hand to her injury, the blood had worsened and Katara managed to see it flow out through her fingers from inside the bandages.

"We need to get you inside quickly" she insisted and gently but steadily pulled Hua to her feet, even Yue helped.

_It had become dark by the ships as Zuko was getting ready to leave, he was alone in a boat-room preparing a small kayak. Instead of the Fire Navy uniform he now wore warm clothing, like seal skin to stay warm. He was going to the Water Tribe and with the ever-changing climate up here he had to be expecting anything._

_His new scars still ached a bit after the reencounter with the pirates, but he didn't bother with it. These were mere scrapes compared to the one he was given by his father. He gritted his teeth, but stayed focused on his work with the kayak._

_Suddenly he heard the door open and close behind him; _

"_You're fishing for an octopus my nephew,__you need a tightly woven net or he will squeeze through the tiniest hole and escape" Iroh warned, Zuko knew who he was talking about. The Avatar, which was why Zuko was going to leave now, he needed to capture the little airbender before Zhao did. _

_It was a fight against time, as he knew the Admiral only waited to daybreak to occur. Yet he did everything to stay calm. _

"_I don't need your wisdom right now, Uncle" he said, trying to make his uncle relax._

"_I'm sorry, I just nag you because-" Iroh walked up to his nephew, his expression became sad and he had to look away before continuing "Well, ever since I lost my son-" his voice trailed off and he couldn't continue._

_Zuko also looked away, remembering what happened to his cousin years ago. If he hadn't died, Iroh would have become the Firelord which meant Zuko's father would never have scarred him. But Zuko knew how much grief Iroh held from the accident and he felt sorry for the old man._

"_Uncle, you don't have to say it" he told him._

"_I think of you as my own" Iroh couldn't help but say it otherwise, he would be out of his own mind if something happened to Zuko, it was bad enough that he had actually thought the pirates killed him, but the fact that he was now heading into enemies' layer and was against Admiral Zhao. Zuko's odds were very few._

"_I know Uncle" Zuko, realizing how his uncle felt, turned to face him his expression compassionate and understanding for once, even he was sad that they had to depart like this._

"_We'll meet again" the young Prince humbly bowed to his Uncle and Master, in a respectful farewell. _

_That's when Iroh couldn't hold it any longer and hugged his nephew tightly in a great bear hug._

_Zuko's heart skipped a beat and he held his breath for a short while, not letting his feelings overflow too much "After I have the Avatar" he promised and let go of the older firebender._

_Iroh looked at his nephew as he sat in the kayak and began lowering it into the freezing water, the air was more chilly than it had felt from inside the ship, but being so headstrong the Prince was he didn't bother with it._

"_Remember your Breathe of Fire! It could save your life out there!" Iroh reminded him as he saw his nephew beginning to disappear into the darkness._

_The Breathe of Fire was what Iroh had been teaching the Prince for so long, it was one of the strongest and most important moves for a firebender to know of, if he wanted to survive in extraordinary climates like the North Pole._

"_I will" Zuko promised as he kept lowering the boat into the water._

"_Make sure Hua is out of danger" Iroh pleaded, he knew how Zuko had worried for her, even though he had acted as if nothing had happened, but his temper from before the pirates' attack more likely exposed that he wasn't happy with his decision of sending her away. He did miss her a whole lot._

"_Yes.." Zuko murmured, he didn't really enjoy the subject 'Hua' now that she wasn't with him. To think he had been able to survive without her for so many years, before he met her in The Earth Kingdom._

_The Prince sighed lightly by the memories they have had together, before she left. He wondered he she had been doing all by herself. It had been about a week since, but now it surely felt like years._

"_And put your hood up, keep your ears warm!" Iroh then shouted, his more fatherly side taking action, no doubt he really cared for his nephew as if he was his son. Firelord Ozai had never been so compassionate before, not even to his younger sister. It was odd to Zuko and he quickly shook it off._

"_I'll be fine!" Zuko shouted back quickly coming back to reality. His boat now touched the surface and he let go of the robe. He didn't really like taking childish advises from his uncle, but in case he was spotted he didn't want his identity to be revealed, so he pulled his hood up as Iroh had asked him to._

_It was frighteningly exhilarating to sail by all the other Fire Navy ships in his small kayak, but Zuko managed to stay calm and got past without being spotted a single time._

_Breathing out in relief and to warm himself up with his Breath of Fire, he sailed off towards the Water Tribe, but fearing he might be spotted by waterbenders, he moved towards the far right side of the iceberg looking for a hidden way inside the city. He figured the thick walls wouldn't allow him to melt the ice, climbing the walls wouldn't be an option either since they would probably be on guard up there._

_He hid himself behind the blocks of ice he sailed by, it was rather easy the blocks being scattered all around the sea. __Zuko had to let the slender stream carry him, afraid his paddling noises might be heard by a guard.__ He was close to the walls no, so close that he could actually see the damages from the attack earlier today, the Fire Navy had done quite the job but The Water Tribe's wall still stood firmly._

_He sailed up to an ice shore and left his kayak there, hiding behind it he saw at least five patrolling guards on top of the walls. _

'_Now climbing is for sure not an option' he thought._

_Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the irritating noise from nearby turtle seals, when he turned around to look he noticed a turtle seal disappear into a breathing hole in the ice, soon its comrades followed the first seal._

_Zuko waited for a while, expecting the animals to return from their fishing-hole but nothing happened._

"_Where are they going?" he whispered to himself, slowly approaching the hole in the ice. He figured since they didn't come back up immediately with their mouths filled with fish this hole had to lead to somewhere._

"_They're coming up for air somewhere" Zuko told himself and look into the hole, then he looked around again realizing he hadn't got much of a choice. This might be his only way inside the Capital city, freezing water or not._

'_Remember your Breathe of Fire' he recalled his Uncle telling him before he took off, this could be vital if he were to survive in the cold water for more than a minute._

_Zuko pulled down his veil around his lower face, he was sure this was what he had to do, it would be one of his greatest and hardest tasks up to date._

_Then he took a deep breath and plunged into the water; at first it was like being stung with a million needles all at once, because of the temperature. His scars, even his old one, started stinging too and it was like he got a brainfreeze immediately because of his bald skull. He already felt agony by being down there, but he needed to continue._

'_It's not far' he had to assure himself in his mind, before swimming through a large tunnel in the deep, dark water._

The full moon had risen to the middle of the sky by now, Aang, Katara, Hua and Princess Yue stood on a balchony and watched it with awe. Aang was still rather depressed after the Fire Navy's attack and his discovery of the hundreds of Navy ships out there.

Princess Yue had led Hua to the nursery to get her legs checked, Yugoda had apologized for not being able to heal her old wounds, but the newly opened wound had been easy to heal. Now Hua sat on a stool in the small balchony-room, her legs feeling a bit better yet still sore so she had to relax for a while. Yugoda had even changed her bandage and she had been frightful when she saw the poor girl's burns.

Princess Yue had looked like she was about to cry when she saw them and Katara had held Hua's hand all the while.

"The legends say the moon was the first waterbender" Yue suddenly said, as if she had gotten an idea to what Aang might do.

"Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves" she explained as the group stared up at the moon, it was a beautiful view from the citadel where they stood. Even the city looked peaceful if you hadn't known about the attack earlier.

"I've always noticed my waterbending is stronger at night" Katara remembered.

Hua slightly sighed, she had never known exactly how her waterbending came to happen, but she remembered Firelady Ursa telling her and Zuko a story once, about the sun and the moon and how they always battled each other.

The sun is strong during the day, the moon at night; and so they have an eternal fight of who's the stronger of the two.

That was approximately all Hua knew of her ancestors but she couldn't help feeling an attachment to Yue's story. But she had to admit this had never occurred to her.

"I haven't noticed at all. I mean, I did feel something at night but I don't think I've ever waterbended at night so I wouldn't know" she shrugged and stood from her seat.

Yue looked back at Hua with a friendly smile, figuring her peering friend was a complete newbie to their culture, truths to be told, she was. So Yue explained further:

"Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon; our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance."

For a moment Hua thought Princess Yue's white hair shone in the moonlight and she wondered if Yue might some sort of special bond between these spirits, or if it was just common respect and tradition in the Water Tribe, she didn't know for sure.

"The Spirits!" Aang suddenly burst out, his depression apparently over as if it never have taken place. "Maybe I can find them and get their help!"

"How can you do that?" Yue asked in confusion, not quite sure of what Aang meant.

"The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World. Aang can talk to them!" Katara said, her eyes bright with hope.

The girls shared optimistic looks and Hua got up to them "Maybe they'll give you the wisdom to win this battle!" she said.

"Or-" Aang started dramatically "Maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" he threw open his arms and almost shouted the sentence as he looked full of enthusiasm.

Yet nobody seemed to find his outburst funny at all and the three girls stared at him, as if he should pull himself properly together and think logical. Aang's foolish smile soon vanished and was replaced by a nervous grin.

"Or wisdom. That's good too" he finally said, agreeing to Hua's idea.

"The only problem is, last time you got to the Spirit World by accident. How are you going to get there this time?" Katara asked, now starting to worry a bit if the plan would be able to succeed at all.

"I have an idea, follow me" Yue announced and went outside, her pace solid. The others didn't know what she had meant, but simply followed her; she might know a thing or two about the spirits which they didn't.

They walked down the courtyard right outside the citadel, Yue led them across the yard and towards a small door in the large wall. It was narrow and didn't look like it was used daily, but still seemed like it was taken good care of, whatever was on the other side.

"So is this the way to the Spirit World?" Aang asked questioningly as Yue stopped beside the door, she giggled warmheartedly at Aang question.

"No, you'll have to get there on your own" she explained and opened the door up with ease "But I can take you to the most spiritual place in the entire North Pole."

Aang was the first, alongside Momo who had joined them sitting on top of Aang's head, to climb through the door. Next came Hua and Katara, and Yue being the last.

Hua's eyes widened with wonder at the sight that met her; inside that small door was a whole new world, much different from the rest of The North Pole. A long pool of water led up to a small island in the middle of the cave-like chamber they were at now. The small island wasn't covered in ice and snow like outside, but instead fresh green foliage like a small meadow.

In the middle of the island stood a paifang, a sacred gate which symbolized that this place was connected to the Spirit World. Bamboo bushes burst forth behind the gate and made the place look even more like a nicely done garden in a rich family's house. The rocks weren't just scattered around like in the normal nature, they were placed with care around the land.

The landing was connected to the ledges on each side of this wonderful chamber and two bridges, one of each side of the ledges were connected to the island.

Aang was the first to take action, while Hua and Katara still took in the beautiful view. The temperature in here was also much different from outside; it was warm and one would almost forget they were still on The North Pole. The young boy laughed aloud as he spun across the bridge and up to the island with Momo flying after him, trying to keep up.

"I never thought I'd miss grass this much!" he said longingly and let himself fall backwards into the soft lawn. The girls quickly followed Aang.

"I know what you mean" Hua giggled and placed her hands on the grass, had she been an earthender this would've been Paradise to her. But even though she wasn't this was still a bit like Paradise, the last time she saw grass was when she still lived in The Earth Kingdom. She let her fingers slide through the thin grass and sighed nostalgic.

"It's so warm here how is that possible?" Katara asked as she smiled and pulled off her overcoat.

"It's the center of all spiritual energy in our land" Yue stated and followed Katara's example, also pulling her overcoat off. Soon Hua followed them. She sure missed being able to walk around not wearing so thick and heavy clothing all the time.

In the middle of the island was an even smaller pool, it was like it glittered as the moon shone at it. But what were most eye-catching was the two koi fish swimming around in circles in the pond. One of them was white with a black spot on its head, the other black with a white spot on its head.

"You're right Yue. I can feel _something, _it's so tranquil" Aang said and without another word spoken he sat down in his meditating pose, folded his hands and closed his eyes. He was completely relaxed.

Hua understood him, ever since they entered the chamber she had felt a tingling in her stomach as well, not the usual kind of tingling but much warmer, as if you were reunited with your lost soulmate or if all the good in the World flew through your body, this place was without a doubt the closest she would ever get to the Spirit World.

The girls stood by and looked at him as he started meditating; Aang's journey to the Spirit World had now begun.

_After numerous minutes under the icy water, searching blindly for the turtle seals other breathing hole, he finally manage to find it. With the little he had left he pulled himself out of the water and laid flat on his back, wheezing and panting for air._

_He had entered an underwater cave, this must've been the turtle seals' gathering spot, they were near._

_He had never felt so tired in his whole life, his body still aching from the pain he had felt in the water just now and he deeply wished Hua was with him at the moment._

_She would comfort him; she would sing to him, he'd let her touch his scar so long as it was just her it was fine with him, and she would smile to him and say "Come on slowpoke, I thought you were better than that."_

_He saw how his hard breathing made small clouds of vapor as he exhaled._

_Hua. What the Prince wouldn't give to touch her just once more, to hold her in his arms, to…_

_Zuko quickly opened his eyes, he wasn't going to fall asleep! What was he thinking? Sleeping while being soaked in icy water would be like writing your own death! He couldn't have that, not if he wanted to see Hua again and he would!_

_He quickly flipped over, shivering; now finally getting the feeling of how chilly this cave actually was. This was a good time to use his Breathe of Fire and he shortly breathed small fireballs towards his hands to warm them up, getting just a bit of feeling back in them._

_The turtle seals had started to bark aloud, which began to irritate Zuko quite a lot and when he forced himself to his feet he immediately turned to the noisy animals._

"_Be quiet!" he ordered, and as if they understood him all seals stopped barking and looked bewildered at the intruder as he pushed them aside to get through. Behind the turtle seals was a tunnel, Zuko heard water flowing from inside so he figured he was on the right path._

_The path stopped as Zuko approached a waterfall. But where did the water come from? As he looked up he saw a hole in the stone wall, the water came through there, which meant that trail had to lead to somewhere too._

_His strength slowly returned to him as he, with a steady mind, began climbing the cold and slippery wall to reach the spring of the waterfall. It was like climbing up ice, but he didn't stop, not even once, Zuko knew if he did he wouldn't have the power left to continue at all._

_The climbing became even harder as he got up to the hole, where the waterfall flushed out at him, luckily the stream wasn't strong enough to push him away else he'd be a goner by now. The waterfall was high and his fingers started hurting._

_The whole process of getting into the hole was the hardest, imagine trying to force yourself through any solid object; rocks, earth, ice, anything, this was how Zuko felt when he fought to get inside the small water tunnel. Truly the stream hadn't been strong, but he had underestimated its power as he got closer._

_When finally inside Zuko had to hold his breath for another while, at least the tunnel was narrow enough for him to climb up and rocky enough for him to hold on tight. But spoken too soon, Zuko was just about to slip and let the stream throw him backwards out of the waterfall again, but he just managed to grab ahold on a rock before it happened._

_With a determined mind he fought the most challenging and consuming fight ever fought. The fight against nature's power._

_The stream became stronger and stronger, but then he was finally out from the tunnel and was now in a larger pool, feeling relief he made his way towards the surface, soon to be free from this cold Hell._

_When he reached the surface he was met by a rocky wall mere inches from his head, shortly disappointed he was relieved to be able to breathe again for a while before continuing. If he hadn't, he'd probably drown and die._

_He inhaled and exhaled quickly, still fighting to keep his eyes open, it was a much harder task to do than underwater. While at the surface, he treaded water to keep himself up trying to find out what else to do._

_The water couldn't possibly end here, there had to be another way._

_He finally took in a deep breath and dived once more, he looked around the cave for a while before he saw another tunnel, to the right of the one he had just entered through. This was his ticket outside from this place for sure!_

_He saw the light through the tunnel as he swam with the last of his strength, but was met with a horrible sight._

_The surface was completely frozen, he had to think fast to work out a solution._

_That's when he realized he hadn't much time at all; he would soon run out of air. He began collecting all the energy he had left in his body, all the warmth and strength and mix them to only one thing. Fire._

_He got up close to the ice surface and placed his hands on it, the warmth from his palms caused the ice to start melting. Finally! He was able to get out from the water at once; he panted heavily as he crawled up from the hole and lay down next to it._

_He looked around just for a short while, realizing he was inside the city at long last, hiding in a tunnel by the border of the Water Tribe's canal system. Nobody would notice him here; he was able to rest now._

'_I'm so close to you now Hua. I'll come and get you soon, I promise.'_

Aang had been meditating for quite a while now, which had caused the girls to get a bit bored.

"Why is he sitting like that?" Yue then asked in a whispery voice, a bit curious about this whole moment.

"He's meditating, trying to cross over into the Spirit World. It takes all his concentration" Katara explained whispering back.

"Is there any way we can help?" Hua then whispered to them, joining their chat.

But they hadn't noticed Aang had heard their whole conversation which had broken his concentration deeply.

"How about some quiet!" he shouted in annoyance "C'mon guys! I can hear every word you're saying!"

The girls, realizing their mistake, quickly shut up and looked at Aang in apology.

Aang then turned to the pool with the koi fish again, and they began to draw his attention as if it was supposed to happen. They circled each other in a slow pace and that's when Aang's eyes and tattoos began lightening up. His body completely still.

"Is he okay?" Yue asked in concern, never seen anything alike it was only natural that she would be frightened.

"He's crossing into the Spirit World. He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world" Katara explained, her voice calm.

Yue's worry began to grow and she started to walk towards the bridge; "Maybe we should get some help?" she suggested.

"No, he's my friend. I'm perfectly capable of protecting him" Katara reassured the Princess with a slight smile.

"We'll do it together. He's my friend too, I'll help you protect him" Hua said and gently placed her hand on Katara's shoulder, the two girls sharing warm smiles. Katara knew she could trust Hua, what could she possibly do make her doubt her?

"Well, aren't you a big girl now?" a mean voice suddenly spoke from behind them, it sounded furious and yet amused at the same time.

Hua's eyes widened as she realized who the voice belonged to.

"No.." Katara whispered and looked towards the owner of the voice, Prince Zuko!

Hua gazed towards the Prince; he looked tired and cranky, but most of all very ferocious. He slowly walked towards them, standing on the bridge by now.

"Yes. Hand him over, and I won't have to hurt you!" he demanded.

Katara didn't answer the Prince; instead she quickly took a fighting stance, facing Zuko with a serious look. Hua had instructed Princess Yue to get to safety while she would stand near Aang and guard him, she didn't want to fight Zuko, but if she had to in the end, she wouldn't hold back.

Zuko was the first to make a move, figuring his opponent did want to fight, he launched into the air and kicked a fireball towards Katara, who quickly defended herself by shielding water in front of her.

Once again Zuko threw a fireball at her, but Katara kept her shield up all the time, slowly walking backwards as Zuko now closed in on her with great speed. He might've looked tired, but his energy had returned to him smoothly after his rest.

Katara just managed to block another of his fireballs, now it was her turn to show him what she was made of, what she had been taught from Master Pakku. She bend the water and forced it towards Zuko, just before he could make another move and the Prince was hurled backwards and fell on his stomach.

It had almost taken his breath from him, but he got to his feet without grater trouble.

"I see you've learned a new trick. But I didn't come this far to lose to you" his back turned to Katara as he spoke, yet swiftly he turned around shooting fire out from his fist at her.

Yet another failed try, Katara doused his attack rapidly and right away launched an attack at Zuko, causing him to almost loose his balance, but he was now standing in the middle of the low tide pool.

Katara saw this as the right opportunity and froze the water just beneath Zuko causing his feet to get frozen too. He was now completely vulnerable to any attack. Katara began swing her arms around in many different movements, creating a large ball of water around Zuko, and when it was hole she froze it.

She had just created an ice prison for the short-tempered Prince; it was hollow though so he would be able to breathe.

"You little peasant. You've found a master, haven't you?" he hissed through gritted teeth staring out at Katara in great anger.

Hua hadn't moved a muscle since the battle started, she still stood in front of Aang in a protective manner if Zuko was capable of breaking free.

He was. The ground started shaking, and the ice began to redden with heat as he had started melting it from the inside and with incredibly force he broke free of the ice prison.

The ice scattered everywhere and Zuko jumped forward, shooting powerful fireball at Katara now using both of his hands.

Hua winced as a small icicle cut her cheek, but she stayed beside Aang still.

Zuko's attacks had grown wilder and Katara even had to move out of the way not to get hurt by his firebending. He moved up close to her as he kept firing at her, it was only a question of mesters now but Katara kept up her defense just fine. Hua gently had to move Aang a bit so they wouldn't bump into him and Hua during the fight, also for Zuko not to get too close. In the end Hua had to move out of the way for Katara.

It seemed like Zuko had changed tactics, now he didn't try to attack Katara instead it looked like he was trying to smoke her further away from Aang, his attacks hitting the ground causing smog to ascend towards Katara's face.

For a while Katara was blinded and couldn't do anything, which made it easy for Zuko to walk behind her and come closer to Aang.

He was just about to grab him by the collar when Hua stepped forward. Zuko looked at her in shock; her expression showed him that she wouldn't let him take Aang, and he clearly hadn't expected her to do so.

Her next move caused Zuko to get even more upset, he had been very angry when he realized Hua had befriended Katara and Aang, but the fact that she was now protecting him was more than he could handle, but he didn't get to say anything because Hua launched him into a wall across the lake with her waterbending, making the Prince unconscious.

Then with two swift movements of her hands she forged a wave which rose Zuko to about 10 feet against the wall, and then she froze it. Only his head and hands free from the ice.

She looked almost astonished up at her childhood friend and sighed in relief that he hadn't taken Aang. Yet she felt her stomach twist, had she done the right thing? Wouldn't Zuko be way more ferocious when he got out from the ice?

She swallowed and suddenly a palm was gently pressed against her shoulder.

"I cannot believe you just did that, to save Aang" Katara stood beside her; she had a compassionate and thankful look on her face.

"Neither can I. I fear he's gonna get really mad once he wakes up" Hua whispered.

Katara understood Hua's mixed feelings yet she was happy about her decision just now.

The two girls turned around and went up to Aang again, planning to sit beside him until he returned to the real world. None of them had noticed that nighttime was already over and now the sun had risen.

Behind them Zuko was starting to awake from his unconsciousness, he snapped up and looked towards the girls with a feral expression, to make it all worse he breathed steams from his nostrils. The ice around him started melting and he jumped to the ground. With a beastly roar he ran towards the girls, directing an attack at Katara, the girls just managed to turn around.

Katara was about to forge a watershield in front of her but the pressure from Zuko's fireball threw her backwards and she hit one of the pillars of the peifang gate, she was knocked out.

Hua gasped as she saw Katara lying in comatose, then she turned to face Zuko but within the short time she had looked away he had closed in on her, only inches between them. The large smoke from Zuko's last attack had made Hua unaware and now she guessed she would have to pay for it.

Zuko had finally grabbed Aang by his collar and was ready to take him away.

But before then he started into Hua eyes, his own burning with blended feelings; anger, desire, sadness and reunion all at once. The Prince had no idea what he was going to do with her after this.

"You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun" he reminded her, his voice rusty and beastly, Hua remembered that fairy tale about the moon and the sun but realized it wouldn't help her much.

She felt a tight, muscular arm around her waist and before she knew of it Zuko had her pulled close to his chest. It hurt and she couldn't get lose, before she knew of it Zuko had her thrown up on his shoulder and he leapt away from the chamber before the smog had disappeared completely.

"No!" Hua found herself shouting as they left with Aang's body, leaving Katara who was still unconscious.

Zuko was running up a slender path which twisted around the sanctuary chamber, the temperature started falling as they got higher.

Hua looked back down to the sacred place where they had been only minutes ago, she thought she heard Katara shout for her and Aang.

"I'm sorry, Katara" she whispered and looked down at the ground, feeling completely mortified and helpless. She felt like she was about to cry. She didn't know whether Zuko had heard her just now or if he ignored her, either way it didn't matter as much as she thought.

They finally got up from the sanctuary, it turned out that they had been in a small valley beneath a gigantic glacier and now it was snowing hardly. Hua quickly put on her overcoat when Zuko put her down and started carrying Aang on his back instead.

She wanted to run back down to Katara but she couldn't leave Aang with Zuko, she would seem like a coward and a traitor if she did so. Well, she didn't have much of a choice anyways; Zuko had taken a firm grib around her wrist and pulled her with him through the harsh storm.

All the while Aang would be trapped within the Spirit World.

* * *

**I'm doing everything I can to update my other fanfictions too, so don't worry a bit, I'll update soon (at least that's something I CAN promise!) enough.**

**And with the excitement of what I have to write next, I'm pretty sure we'll get to the end of Book 1 pretty fast :3 The fun has only just begun!**

**You guys have no idea how hard and frustrating it is to describe waterbending and firebending, it's killing me T-T I think my fingers will start bleeding soon ..!**


	19. Siege of the North Part 2

**Almost as long as previous chapter, whew and now we're closing the Book of Water for good :D And might I add once more I hate describing battles, especially waterbending and firebending (earthbending WILL be added to the list -.-)**

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter, at least it was alot easier than the previous one, probably because I knew that when I was done with this Book 1 would be completed :3**

**But I'll soon take the task and start up Book 2, besides I've ordered the Earth Chronicles Zuko's Tale, so I can get an inside look at how Zuko thought and felt as he had left for the Earth Kingdom resort.**

**And now I don't have to write about Zhao anymore x'D Seriously he was starting to annoy me, but I enjoyed writing the scene were he dies.. Not BECAUSE he dies, but I actually liked writing about his grief for Zuko and how he felt during that moment.**

**BTW I wonder if Iroh can keep a secret o.o**

**Enjoy, R&R please!**

* * *

"_Aang!" Katara shouted as she had regained consciousness, she was completely in panic when realizing Aang was gone, and so were Hua and Zuko. She looked around in bewilderment, not able to make out where they had gone._

_That's when she heard Appa roar from up the sky and he landed beside Katara, Sokka and Princess Yue got down from the saddle and ran up to Katara._

"_What happened? Where's Zuko?" Sokka asked in surprise, looking around as he approached his younger sister._

"_He took Aang. He took him right out from under me" Katara was heartbroken that she hadn't been able to protect Aang even though she had been so sure of herself._

"_Where did they go?" Sokka wondered out loud, looking around for possible escape roads._

"_Where is Hua?" Princess Yue then asked in worry._

"_I think she went with Zuko. I don't know what happened, one moment she was fighting against him but the next I was knocked unconscious by Zuko, and Hua had disappeared too" Katara tried her best to calm herself down, breathing heavily._

"_Maybe she went after Zuko to retrieve Aang?" Yue suggested, not aware of the relationship between the Prince and Hua._

"_Or maybe she finally chose sides. I figured she was still on his side" Sokka said scratching his chin._

"_Then why would she protect Aang?" Katara insisted, though not quite sure what she believed anymore._

"_To not create suspicion and make us believe that she wanted to retrieve Aang!" Sokka suggested, his voice sounded quite certain._

_Katara shook her head and settled down by the spot, where Aang had been minutes ago. Momo sat beside her, probably as worried as she was, he didn't understand where his friend had gone off to._

"_I can't believe I lost him" Katara muttered, trying to hold her tears back._

"_You did everything you could and now we need to do everything we can to get him back" Sokka said in a comforting voice and walked up towards Appa again, helping Yue back into the saddle as he settled down on the bison's head, himself._

"_Zuko can't have gotten far. We'll find him. Aang's gonna be fine" Sokka kept assuring his sister as he was determined to fly out to look for their friend, afterwards it would be up to Hua whether she also wanted to return with them, or not._

"_Okay" Katara finally nodded and ran up to Appa, climbing up on his back too, Sokka's assurance had left marks on Katara and now she was ready to find Aang again._

_Before they took off Katara looked back at Momo, the small lemur still sitting by the pond chitting a bit sad as he looked up at them._

"It's all right. You stay here, Momo, in case Aang comes back" she told him.

Sokka then pulled at Appa's reins telling him a short 'yip yip' before they took off.

_Appa started levitating up towards the edges of the, apparently, large chamber they've been in. It turned out be an entire glacier and they had stood by the foot of it not long ago. It was massive and the climate had changed dramatically all of a sudden. Going from warm to bitterly cold. The three friends shivered by the changes and pulled their coats closer to their bodies, and their hoods up, as the wind had become strong and howled around them._

Miles further away, Zuko was still carrying Aang's body on his back and his grip had tightened around Hua's wrist as they kept walking in the blizzard.

Hua wondered what had gotten into Zuko, if he was angry with her he would definitely let her know, but it didn't seem like him to stay quiet. She pulled at her hood and had to shut her eyes several times because of the piercing snowflakes around them.

She suddenly felt a certain warmth by her wrist where Zuko's held on to her, did he try to warm her? She looked up at the Prince, but he didn't notice, he was too determined to get away from the North Pole.

They walked in silence for a long time, Hua wasn't aware of how long but it felt like an eternity, the landscape never changing a bit.

The snow had gotten deeper though, and Hua felt the coolness on her legs, she didn't have proper footwear for this type of weather. She hoped her bandages wouldn't get soaked.

That's when a deafening sound was heard, something started cracking underneath their feet. Zuko stopped and looked down, small cracks had appeared from where they've walked. Then he looked across the landscape and saw much bigger cracks. They were walking on a frozen lake and now the cracks started moving towards them with enormous speed.

By intuition Zuko and Hua started running across the lake, as the ice cracks grew larger and more threatening. Hua then realized that Zuko had let go of her wrist, instead he hold on tighter to Aang afraid he might drop him.

Hua, realizing she couldn't run anywhere else, kept following Zuko. She looked over her shoulder, seeing as the ground collapsed with incredible speed, closing in on them. When she looked forward again, they were suddenly running uphill, a yawning ice floe was raising them upwards, as it was about to collapse behind them.

Hua saw that Zuko was about to lose balance and quickly bended a platform of ice underneath her feet, elevating her quickly up to Zuko and caught him just before he fell and he managed to regain balance. He seemed rather surprised by Hua's rescue mission. He might still have thought she had betrayed him by defending Aang and hurt him, he was supposed to be her friend.

It had been hard enough to see her, being so friendly with that little waterbending girl, now that he had looked so much forward to see her again and hold her in his arms, his disappointment had turned to anger in less than a second.

The ice platform quickly shot them up into the air and away from the lake in no time. Despite the soft snow bed it was still a hard landing, Zuko took a bit of time to get back on his feet but soon managed to pull Aang up on his back again. He looked back at the now completely visible lake, which had tried to kill them just now, it was completely still.

Then he looked to Hua, his eyes widened as she was still lying on the ground. She hadn't moved from where she landed and Zuko immediately feared the worst, not letting go of Aang he knelt down to her side and turned his childhood friend around.

Her eyes were closed, he figured she had landed on something or didn't land properly. He held her close to his chest, shielding her from the storm. They had to get into safety from the blizzard now!

He looked around through half-shut eyes when he noticed a rock ledge overhanging a small cave, not too far away from where he sat.

"Shelter" he muttered to himself, he would be able to carry both his prisoner and his friend to the cave.

Carrying to people at once was a harder task than he thought, but Zuko was more than happy that there actually was a cave, and he wouldn't have to look for one for long as he had feared.

He felt Aang starting to slide down from his back and had to fasten his pace towards the cave, just as he got to the entrance he collapsed to his knees causing Aang to slip down on the ground.

He sighed heavily and gently put Hua by the wall, for a short while he sat crouched in front of her watching her calm face. She didn't look like she had just fainted, more like if she was asleep.

Then he heard a sound coming from the Avatar, the Prince quickly got to his feet up went up to the kid he had just dumped on the ground, he pulled him towards the opposite wall and began tying him with a rope in case he suddenly awoke and tried to run off. He couldn't have that now that he was so close to fulfill his duty.

When finishing with the robe he went back to Hua again, and sat down beside her, leaning against the wall. He figured he should warm her somehow, so without thinking any further he pulled into his arms, sitting with her one leg on each side of her small frame, it felt strange after their time of separation but he soon came to enjoy it. He could hear her calm breathing as they just sat there, Zuko holding her like a boy holds a girl, if they were… _More than friends._

"Guess we'll be here a while" he muttered, holding the girl closer to him.

He wasn't sure whether it was her body warmth or his own starting to raise, that made his cheeks burn but something certainly did. He swallowed hardly and held her closer, enjoying the presence and closeness of his friend. Now this was just as he imagined when he was still fighting to get inside the Capital of the Water Tribe and now she was with him.

He used his Breathe of Fire to warm both of them up again, then he looked to Aang as the small boy slightly sighed in his sleep.

"I finally have you. But I can't get you home because of this blizzard" his mind had trailed away from Hua for a while, he now stood from his seat, but he had gently leaned her against the wall before that and now walked up to the cave entrance.

The blizzard kept rushing outside and Zuko couldn't get away from it and return home, he knew that. Then he looked back at the Avatar, he clenched his fists recalling his last battle with the small monk. He thought he could easily take him out, but without warning he was suddenly a genius at fighting and Zuko didn't stand a chance. The memory made him livid.

"There's always something. Not that you would understand" he continued his talk with Aang, knowing he couldn't hear him which he only found valuable, he would be looked upon as weak if his enemy heard him now.

"You're like my sister. Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy and everyone adores her" Zuko recalled all his hard training to become a good firebender, his sister, Azula, on the other hand learned quicker than any child her age could ever imagine. She was a natural at everything she did, Zuko's powers and agility had then been minimal and not very impressive and it always grieved him much.

"My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born" his eyes looked determined out at the blizzard, it had torn at Zuko's heart when he had heard those words from his father, but with the last 3 years being on sea he had become hardened, it didn't matter to him as much as it had done when he was first banished.

"I don't need luck though, I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight and that's made me strong" he lowered his head "It's made me who I am" before he turned around again, that's when he noticed Hua had awakened and his figure froze. Her eyes met his with a comforting look, had she heard him just now?

"Zuko, listen I-" but Zuko cut her off.

"So you're awake. That's good, that'll mean I won't have to carry both of you" the Prince said with a cold voice as he turned his head away from her.

"Why did you take me with you?" Hua then asked, her voice lower now as she wouldn't want to upset her friend.

The Prince then spun around, facing her with an angry expression.

"Because!" he was about to blurt out but quickly pulled himself together "Because I thought you wanted to come with me" his voice lowered too, he couldn't say it directly to her and his fist clenched harder by the thought of her being together with the Avatar and his friends instead of _him._

"I guess I blindly trusted you" he walked up to her as he spoke, Hua wasn't sure if it was rage or sadness she found in his voice, but she was afraid to say anything.

"How could you betray me like that? What did they fill your head with? Was it because you found a master? Did they say I was evil? Or is it entirely because of what I did to your village?" Zuko raised his voice even louder than before as he spoke, or rather yelled, Hua found his arguments pointless but was interrupted when Zuko dragged her to her feet by her collar.

"Which is it!" his breathing became heavy and he almost shook Hua as they both stood there.

For the first time since they met again, Hua trembled in fear of her childhood friend. This wasn't like Zuko to shout at her like that, and then she shoved him away from her, causing him to fall backwards and her falling to her knees, without any power to hold her up.

"How dare you?" she finally spoke, her voice shaking in fear.

"You don't know what I've been through ever since I left you. I missed you every day, even though I made friends with _your _enemies; I hoped you would soon come back. But then I found out something about myself, I found out about my past. I found my home" she explained as tears began to drip down from her cheeks.

Zuko was completely bewildered, he didn't understand at all. As he sat up he was about to say something to defend himself but this time Hua was the one interrupting him.

"The Fire Nation is about to attack my birthplace!" she shouted and hugged herself tightly, letting the tears stream out freely, slightly sobbing.

The Prince's eyes widened in surprise, it had never occurred to him that The Northern Water Tribe could be Hua's original home and he felt a sting in his heart.

"Have you never wondered why my face looked like this?" she then asked, motioning at her facial tattoo and Zuko had to look away. Truth was he hadn't really, at first he simply thought it pretty and now he hadn't really thought that it meant anything.

"I have finally found my home, my actual home. And you know what? It felt so liberating to be there" she spoke, slightly recovering from her sadness as she wiped a few tears away from her eyes.

Within the next seconds, Zuko had crawled up to Hua and held her tight in his arms. Hua gasped as Zuko suddenly felt overbalance and he tripped, causing the two of them to land on the ground.

Hua lying underneath Zuko's body, looking up at her friend as he was atop of her. His eyes had finally turned calm and actually compassionate for a moment then he leaned closer to Hua, they felt each other's fast breathing and Hua's heart started galloping in her chest.

Zuko, for once, kept their eyes sealed for much longer than expected when they were merely inches from each other he said:

"I-I can't let you leave me.." his voice slightly trembling, before he softly placed his lips against hers.

Hua slightly gasped at this, both for the fact that Zuko kissed her and because he declined to let her go.

The kiss seemed entirely long and Hua's breathing had grown heavier, Zuko on the other hand almost seemed as if he regained all his energy from this moment. When he stopped he looked at her, his mind seemed to have forgotten everything about what they've just talked about and his grin challenging.

"You want me to kiss you again?" he then asked in a slight, almost tempting whisper.

Hua was stunned, had Zuko only been holding up a façade until now, to make her put her guard down. What if his talk about being a traitor and thinking less of him, just lies? She was completely clueless, what should she do? She wondered if he had only acted this way to gain her trust, but actually was still mad at her.

Deep down Zuko hadn't been holding up a façade, _this_ was his façade. He still wasn't good at confronting his feelings, especially not when they involved Hua, at least not the happy emotional part of it that is. The rougher part was easier to him; it was like it fitted his character better.

A bright light suddenly entered the cave, lighting it up with great power. Both Zuko and Hua closed their eyes because of the sharpness in it, when it disappeared a struggling noise was heard from behind the two friends followed by a gasp.

Zuko quickly fixed his eyes on Aang, who had now finally awoken from his slumber.

"Welcome back" he said in a low voice as he sat up, though with his legs on each side of Hua yet, forcing her in her place.

"Good to be back!" Aang said in a threatening voice, he had probably gotten the impression that Zuko was trying to hurt Hua instead of kissing her, his expression showed anger by all means.

With a mighty inhale, Aang blew a strong wind at Zuko shoving him off Hua with great force, as well as causing himself to fly out of the cave. The storm had stopped outside and the weather was now completely still. Aang landed on his back in the snow.

"Run Hua!" he shouted and still tied up he began to crawl away from the cave like a giant caterpillar, though his speed not very quick.

Hua got up from her spot and ran out to Aang, but was quickly pushed aside by Zuko who easily got up to Aang's side and pulled him up by the collar.

"That won't be enough to escape" he threatened, but soon turned his head as he heard a blow of wind as if something big flew by.

Hua had fallen to her knees by Zuko's push and now sat looking at them with a nervous expression.

"Appa!" Aang shouted in happiness to see his furry friend again.

When the bison landed Katara was the first one to get down on the ground.

"Here for a rematch?" Zuko asked challengingly, as he dropped Aang in the snow and made a firebending stance with his hands.

"Trust me Zuko, it's not gonna be much of a match" Katara talked back, a fireball was soon shot after her but this time Katara was ready and quickly blocked with a water shield.

Zuko was about to attack again, when Katara created a shockwave of ice which swallowed half of Zuko's body, soon forming into a large ice pillar. But as soon as the pillar was raised from the earth, Katara forcefully dropped it again. As the pillar quickly sank it had turned to snow again and it buried Zuko within it.

Hua slightly gasped and managed to get to her feet again, running to Zuko's side.

All the while Sokka had jumped down from Appa and cut Aang loose with his boomerang "Hey! This is some quality rope!" he complimented as he saw the crafting of the rope Zuko had used to tie Aang up with. Apparently the Fire Nation was good rope crafters, but that didn't matter now.

Aang quickly got free from the rope and jumped to his feet "We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!" the boy explained as he ran up to Appa.

Hua, who had started brushing the snow off of Zuko's body, he had fainted from the pressure of the snow on his body. Then she looked back at her friends. Or possibly former friends, she wasn't sure if they also believed her a traitor.

Aang leaped up on Appa's head and Sokka took place, beside Yue and Katara, in the saddle again. Aang was about to move the reins but suddenly stopped and looked to Hua and the unconscious Zuko.

"I fully understand if you don't trust me anymore" Hua began "but I promise you, I'm still your friend but-" she paused and looked down at Zuko "I'm still also his friend."

Aang's expression soon became compassionate, as if he understood how split up Hua must feel. She had grown up with the Prince of The Fire Nation, but now that she had found her true home in The Nothern Water Tribe and befriended Aang and the others, she was torn between two roads, not knowing which to follow.

Katara seemed to have read the monk's mind 'cause she soon smiled gently down at her slightly older friend, she remembered all the good times they've already had together, it had felt like having a big sister or maybe even a twin. It had been much different from living with Sokka, that's for sure.

Princess Yue also felt her feelings, Hua had known Yue was in love with Sokka but couldn't get herself to realize it because they were so different and to make it all worse she was engaged. The Princess could see right away that there was a certain bond between those two.

"We can't just leave him here" Aang finally spoke on everyone's behalf.

"Sure we can. Let's go" Sokka bluntly answered, being the only one not amused by this moment. He hadn't trusted Hua to begin with and he still didn't, his doubts had probably only worsened by seeing her being so nice to Zuko.

Hua sighed, guessing there wasn't much to do, she couldn't talk sense into Sokka after all.

"No, if we leave him, he'll die" Aang said with a serious voice and he jumped down from Appa's head again.

"Thank you, Aang" Hua said gratefully and together she and the Avatar lifted Zuko up on Appa, letting him lie in the back of the saddle.

"Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us!" Sokka said ironically as Appa then flew off.

Hua was settled down in the back of the saddle together with Zuko, his head lying in her lap as he was still unconscious.

"What made you change your mind?" she silently asked her friends.

"Change our minds? What do you mean?" Katara asked in confusion as she turned to her friend.

"I thought you thought me a traitor and didn't want to bring me" Hua muttered as she gently stroke her hand across Zuko's face.

"Please, we never found you a traitor. It's the guy you're holding on to we don't like" Sokka joked, yet for the first time he smiled at her. Hua was surprised; the guy that didn't trust her to begin with had seemed to gain her trust so suddenly. It made her quite happy that nobody doubted her; she couldn't stop smiling at this.

"Thank you, guys."

They flew for quite some time and it had soon become nighttime around them, the landscape growing darker but luckily still quiet, no sign of any storm.

Hua had looked at Zuko's face throughout the whole trip, she had wondered if her healing abilities could heal Zuko's scar.

She bit down at her lip as she with shaking fingers touched his scar, just by the cheekbone, she didn't want to place her entire hand on his scar afraid he might wake from agony or something. She stroke it as gently as possible with only her finger tips, Zuko did come with a low moaning sound and turned his face towards her belly in his unconsciousness. Hua held her breath afraid he might wake up, but nothing happened.

Then she inhaled slowly and began concentrating on the scarred area of his face, she was just about to get to the actual part of the healing when she soon felt a deep pain in her head.

A groan escaped Yue's lips too as she rubbed her forehead in pain as well.

"Are you okay?" Sokka then asked in concern.

"I feel faint" she answered with a low voice.

"I feel it too" Aang declared.

"So do I" Hua said in slight pain yet a bit amazed that all three of them felt the same ache just now, she tried to restart her healing on Zuko's face, but her bending didn't work this time. Trying a few more times nothing happened.

"The Moon Spirit is in trouble" Aang looked up at the moon, it had turned blood red all of a sudden, causing the light it reflected to become red too. The entire landscape looked like a battlefield stained with blood.

"I owe the Moon Spirit my life" Princess Yue suddenly began.

"What do you mean?" Sokka asked in concern and confusion, holding his arms around Yue in a protective manner.

"When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I were asleep. My eyes closed" Yue's expression was very distant as she spoke, probably recalling the story she had been told by her father once.

"Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die" her voice began to trail off but she was strong enough, for once, to continue.

"My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry and they knew I would live" she explained.

Hua figured that was why Yue's hair had this supernatural white colour instead of black or brown, which were most common in the Water Tribe. So the white color was a sign that Yue had been touched by the Moon Spirit.

"That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon" she ended her story as she looked around at her friends.

If Yue had been truly touched by the Moon Spirit there was no doubt she could feel when it was in danger. Of course Aang could too, being the Avatar.

But Hua wondered why she was able to do so too. Maybe it was because of that prophecy Yugoda had told her about, she was destined to bring sorrow yet happiness and her facial tattoo was the sign of it. Maybe she had also been touched by the Moon Spirit, without knowing?

_Admiral Zhao had found the oasis; it was his doing that the moon had turned red. His soldiers stood around him, admiring their leader in great respect._

"_I am a legend now!" Zhao declared as he stood by the pond holding the bag with the Moon Spirit within it, the koi floundered about in the back, clinging to life. He had raised his hands to the sky in pure amazement that his plan had succeeded._

"_The Fire Nation will for generations tell stories about the great Zhao who darkened the moon! They will call me Zhao the Conqueror! Zhao the Moon Slayer! ZHAO THE INVINCIBLE!" his voice growing more and more dramatic as he shouted out the titles he would be given._

Suddenly Momo jumped up on the admiral's head, pulling at his sideburns while squealing.

"Get it off! Get it off!" he demanded in big annoyance as the lemur kept crawling around on his head, his soldiers surrounded him trying to capture Momo, but then he flew off and landed on Aang's arm.

The friends had gotten back to the oasis, and not a moment too soon, standing on the other side of the pond. Aang held out his arm for Momo to land on, not taking his eyes away from Zhao, his expression angry.

Zhao's soldiers stood ready to attack, and Aang and his friends did the same. Sokka with his boomerang, Aang with his glider, and Katara and Hua. Yet the girls would have to fistfight if anything, as their waterbending had been taken away alongside the Moon Spirit.

Princess Yue was still settled in the saddle on Appa's back, to be safe and Zuko as well, still unconscious.

"Don't bother" Zhao ordered his men, as he figured it wasn't even worth attacking a bunch of kids. He looked at them with a scornful expression. They could easily be beaten, only one of them still had his bending powers after all.

Instead he held the bag with the Moon Spirit up high and held a clenched fist, threatening, towards it.

"Zhao! Don't!" Aang pleaded as he let go of his glider, realizing the admiral would kill the spirit with a single blow of fire at the small bag. The Moon and Ocean Spirits had given up their immortality to live in the real world, it would be easy to kill one of them and Zhao knew it very well.

"It's my destiny, to destroy the Moon and the Water Tribe!" he said his voice high as if this would be the only way to victory, Zhao must've gotten mad, Hua thought.

"Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone, including you" Aang explained as he held his hands up, trying to make the admiral calm down and get on better thoughts.

Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world" Aang kept on, as the Ocean Spirit, still in the pond, swam about in desperation fearing for its friend's life.

"He is right, Zhao!" a rusty voice spoke from behind them, when they turned to look it was Iroh, standing on the nearest bridge having a very unusual, serious look on his face.

"General Iroh. Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?" Zhao said in a atypically calm and contemptuous voice. Still holding on the bag, refusing to lower it or his fist.

Hua was incredibly happy to see Iroh again, but she couldn't move out of the place, fearing what might happen if she did. If Zhao thought Iroh a traitor now, what wouldn't he think when he saw him hugging a waterbender? She stayed put; her hands clenched into tight fists, wishing the admiral could be talked back to his senses.

Iroh pulled down the hood on his coat and looked back at the younger admiral "I'm no traitor, Zhao, the Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance."

Zhao didn't want to listen and once more rejected to let go of the koi. Then Iroh pointed towards Zhao with one finger, yet in a very intimidating manner, one Hua had never seen before.

"Whatever you do to that spirit I'll unleash on you ten-fold!" the old man shouted with an aggressive voice.

Hua was shocked by the old man's aggression but deeply understood it, even Zhao was taken aback by the menace in Iroh's voice. Never had anybody spoken to him like that, he was used to it being the other way around.

"LET IT GO, NOW!" Iroh roared a final warning, as he now stood ready to battle Zhao if necessary.

Zhao's expression was still steady, but soon it began to weaken and he admitted his defeat. Crouching by the pond he let the white koi into the water again and threw away the sack. At the very moment, the moon turned to its normal faint blue colour as soon as the Moon Spirit touched the water's surface and was released into the pond again.

But then Zhao's face turned into a wicked grimace, he was desperate to win this battle no way would he loose to mere kids and an old man, and with a foul howl he stood and sliced an enormous fire saber across the water aiming for the white koi with all his power and might.

The saber almost licked the faces of the children and they, alongside Iroh, looked at Zhao in horror of what he had just done. The landscape around them had turned grey and sad as Zhao's attack had hit the koi fish. The moon was gone from the sky.

Hua almost burst into tears by this horrifying moment, she held up her hands to cover her mouth staring wildly at the pond, fearing the worst for the poor Moon Spirit.

Almost instantly Iroh leaped at the admiral with great fury, unleashing a wild firebending attack. The admiral too stunned at what he had just done, only managed to dodge the attacks without being able to fight back otherwise. His backed away from Iroh, who kept launching fireballs at him, actually fearing for his life at the very moment.

His soldiers stepped in front of Iroh to cut off his way, but Iroh's wrath was unstoppable and with a single blow for each the men were knocked out.

Zhao was stunned that this elderly general was able to unleash so much power after one simple action, but he was still terrified at what he had just done and still couldn't believe his own eyes.

When Iroh had defeated the soldiers, Zhao had run away in terror.

In the small pond it was now only the black koi fish that still swam around, grieving over its injured friend. The white koi lay completely still on the water's surface, with a major injury on its belly.

Iroh gently picked up the injured fish and looked it over; Princess Yue had gotten down from Appa's back and walked up to the pond as well.

He bowed his head in distress; soon the others gathered by the pond and stared at the koi fish, their eyes also saddened.

"There's no hope now. It's over" Yue declared in sorrow, ready to burst into tears. Sokka gently put his arms around her shoulders.

Hua had settled down right beside Iroh, now that Zhao and his men were gone there was no danger to embrace the elder general. She placed a hand on his arm and looked at the hurt spirit.

Then Hua's eyes met Iroh's, she was both happy to see him yet so sad this was how they would meet again. She slightly sobbed and hugged him; Iroh understood and gently hugged her tighter with one arm, still holding the fish up gently with the other.

Aang had his head bowed for a while when suddenly his eyes started to lighten up with a strong blue shimmer, just like before he awoke in the cave. His arrow and mouth started lighting up too and his eyebrows curled into an angry expression.

"No. It's not over!" he said, his voice like an echo, very distant and ghostly deep. Everyone looked up and saw the young boy walk into the pond; Katara was about to follow in worry but Iroh quickly raised his palm signaling that she shouldn't interfere.

With firm steps he got to the middle of the pond, the Ocean Spirit now circulating around him in a plea for help. He then folded his hands as if he was going to make a prayer, but his expression showed otherwise, it had frozen into a solid and fuming appearance.

A breeze stared blowing around them and the pond began to lighten up, despite the grey surroundings. What happened next was not of this world; Aang sank into the pond with one swift plop and as if the pond was endless he disappeared completely into the dark water.

The others were now standing unspeakable and looked stunned at the pond. Hua then caught a glimpse of something blue shining at the corner of her eye. But as she turned her head, it wasn't just a glimpse; it was the entire lake in the cave that had started to glow in a paranormal cobalt blue color, as if it was lightning under water.

It was like the water had gotten veins, which glowed in a just as paranormal white color as the blue did. It looked more alive than ever before and it started spreading all the way to outside of the oasis area, Hua figured it was on its way through the whole city by now and the light seemed to travel all around the Water Tribe within minutes.

Then a huge luminous wave flushed underneath one of the bridges, like a giant fish in the ocean it moved across the lake and from that exact wave a creature started forming. It was gigantic and towered above all of them, including Appa, it looked like a blend of a koi fish with its fishy head and its _beard_ and that of a frog with long fingers at the end of both arms and scales on the back of its head.

Within the colossus' stomach, which was a big air bubble, was Aang, his expression hadn't changed at all and it seemed like he was the one having control of this beast.

Hua didn't exactly understand why at that moment, but she was caught with veneration by the sight of this fishy monster and before she knew of it, she bowed deeply in respect for the creature. This must've been the famous Avatar State, which would be used to save the World. And the creature before them must've been the Ocean Spirit, materializing with the help from the Avatar himself.

She made a silent prayer as she felt the beast's eyes rest upon her and the others for a short moment, before he turned to the gate and with ease marched right through it, its watery body quickly forming again as it got out to the main city.

Hua then felt a hand on her shoulder and with a slight gasp she looked up to see Iroh standing beside her, first now she realized that the spirit wasn't standing before them anymore and she looked after it, still not able to believe what had just happened before her eyes.

She ran out from the oasis and looked down upon the great city; she hadn't even realized the siege had already begun long ago. The spirit continued through the city and Hua could make out waterbenders who, like she had done, bowed in deep respect for the creature, and firebenders that were wiped away by the great fist of the beast.

They tried to attack it but with no use, their firebending didn't even scratch it and carelessly they were swiped aside like flies.

_Zhao had fled from the oasis and was on his way down to the main walls, his cowardly self had taken over when he realized that Iroh could actually fight better than any other opponent the admiral had ever faced. He had felt afraid and in deep desperation to get as far away from the North Pole as possible._

_That's when he reached a small bridge leading to another wall, but when he approached a strong blast of fire hit the wall just before him and he held his hands up to protect himself, fearing it might be Iroh, who had followed him._

_But when he slowly turned around as the smoke from the fireblast had cleared, it wasn't the old general who met his gaze, but the Prince. Zuko had awoken from his unconsciousness even before Zhao had killed the Moon Spirit and he had stayed hidden until now._

_He stood upon a wall, higher up than Zhao, and stared down at the admiral with a heated look._

_Zhao could hardly believe his eyes, of course, as he was the one that was behind the pirates' attack on Zuko's ship, he had thought the Prince had been killed._

"_You're alive?" he spoke in awe, somehow fearing he might be seeing a ghost before his very eyes._

"_You tried to have me killed!" Zuko shouted, jumping down from the wall towards Zhao he launched a mighty attack at the admiral, to show how much alive he actually was, despite the admiral's attempted murder._

_The Prince roared as he attacked Zhao, almost hitting him with a fierce blow but Zhao managed to dodge and roll out of the way just in time. He was now standing on the parapet wall, slightly balancing not to fall down._

_Zhao looked towards Zuko with an evil look; "__Yes, I did. You're the Blue Spirit an enemy of the Fire Nation!" Zhao announced loudly, as if hoping someone might hear him and attack Zuko too._

_Out of the newly created smog Zuko walked firmly towards Zhao, he wasn't afraid of the admiral's words._

_The two firebender stood about 10 meters away from each other, both not moving a single muscle._

"_You freed the Avatar" Zhao finally said and they both took a battle position._

"_I had no choice" Zuko answered bluntly, since Zhao had been informed that the Avatar was still alive he and Zuko have had quite a rivalry of who would be the first one to capture him. As the Avatar was Zuko's only ticket home, he couldn't afford to lose to this egoistic fool._

_Zuko's attacks were the first to be launched, he sent countless of blasts towards Zhao, but he simply avoided the attacks by placing his hands in front of him in a wedge, causing the attacks to rebound not hurting him the slightest._

_When Zuko realized he didn't get anywhere with his attacks he stopped, looking at Zhao in frustration._

"_You should have chosen to accept your failure, your disgrace!" Zhao then said in a cool voice as he threw away his cloak, Zuko was sure that the admiral meant it seriously this time, now he wanted to fight, his hands in a firebending stance. _

"_Then, at least you could have lived!__" Zhao began shooting fireblasts at Zuko as he moved closer to the Prince, who easily avoided his opponent. He knew that Zhao tended to use dirty tricks and he doubted he wouldn't do the same now, as he did their last match._

_Zuko was able to attack a few times as well when Zhao was very close to him, the admiral kneeled and shot a blast towards the Prince with his legs but Zuko jumped into the air, avoiding this one too._

_As they proceeded the battle grew more intense, and soon they were fighting hand-to-hand yet still with the help of firebender too._

_Zhao's attacks grew angrier, but Zuko managed to stay out of the way and fight back just as ferocious. When Zhao sent an attack towards him, he managed to duck and as Zhao still held his arm stretched, Zuko saw the opportunity to attack him directly._

_He shot a might blast at the admiral who lost balance and fell from the parapet, not able to grab ahold by the edge of the wall. Zuko looked after him, not finished with the admiral just yet, he jumped down towards him._

Hua had finally gotten back to the oasis after watching the spirit for a long time now; she had remembered what had happened to the Moon Spirit and knelt beside Iroh as she approached the others. Iroh had gently placed the fish in the pond again, but the cut was too deep and the fish wouldn't move.

"It's too late. It's dead" Katara announced as Hua sat down, both girls bowing their heads in despair.

They were quiet for a while when suddenly Iroh said; "You have been touched by the Moon Spirit" he pointed at Yue while speaking "Some of its life is in you!"

Yue looked up, her eyes still filled with sorrow but she managed to speak clearly.

"Yes, you're right. It gave me life" she explained, then her sadness disappeared and was replaced with a look of determination "Maybe I can give it back" she got to her feet and walked up to the pond next to Iroh.

But before she could settle down, Sokka jumped to his feet and grabbed Yue by her hand.

"No! You don't have to do that!" he said in a desperate protest, Hua realized what this meant. If Yue gave back the Moon Spirit's life, she would die and Sokka would lose the girl he loved. Hua imagined herself being in Yue's place and being held back by Zuko.

She felt her face flush and looked away, she figured it was a stupid thought to think especially right now and she silently apologized on behalf of Princess Yue and Sokka too.

"It's my duty, Sokka" Yue answered, bowing her head not wanting to look back at the boy who still held her hand, by her answer he squeezed her hand tighter in his own.

"I won't let you! Your father told me to protect you!" he insisted trying to make Yue forget about all this nonsense and stay with him, but his try was vain.

"I have to do this" she simply answered, finally looking up yet still refusing to look back at Sokka, Hua guessed she might not be able to carry it out if she saw Sokka's hurtful expression and she let her hand slide out from Sokka's grip.

Hua felt sorry for Sokka, but whatever could she do? Yue had chosen her decision. Iroh was holding up the koi fish for Yue to touch and as the Princess laid her slender hands on the fish's dead body it started glowing.

Hua bit down at her lower lip as her heart raced, she saw Yue's eyes shining as she fish lit up. She was probably afraid and agitated that soon her life would be over.

Then Yue closed her eyes and the light soon faded away again, her body had gone completely limp and she fell over as she exhaled her final breath.

"NO!" Sokka cried out and just managed to catch her into his arms. He sat knelt on the ground while holding her; he gently touched her cheek but soon understood that it was of no use.

Hua was stunned and she couldn't hide her tears, she silently cried. She felt a hand hold on to hers and saw that it was Katara, who had a hard time holding in her tears as well.

"She's gone" he said, his hands starting to shiver as he held Yue's body closer to his "She's gone" he stated one last time as his voice cracked over.

Iroh had gently pulled Hua closer, figuring the young woman needed some comfort and he tenderly rubbed her arm to make her feel just a little better, Katara didn't let go of Hua's hand at one moment.

Hua found it a bit strange nobody tried to comfort Sokka, then again what do you say to a boy who just lost the girl he loved? What do you do? He would probably not even want comfort, he just wanted Yue.

Just as Zuko only wanted Hua, she thought and bit even harder at her lower lip almost drawing blood.

Hua sighed deeply and leaned away from Iroh, quietly stating that she was OK now and she wouldn't need to be comforted. She still found it unbearable that they comforted her and not Sokka.

But then something started to light up before them and as they looked again, the body of Princess Yue had disappeared from Sokka's arms and the koi fish started lighting up again.

Iroh felt its movements and quickly placed it into the pond again. It was alive!

Princess Yue had sacrificed her life to save the Moon Spirit, and she had accomplished her final mission in life. The pond started glowing alongside the fish and then formed a ghostly image in front of them.

It was the shape of a woman with long white, flowing hair wearing a beautiful kimono-dress, her eyes were shining bright for a moment, but then she looked down at Sokka. It was Yue!

Her eyes showed great compassion and a touch of pride as she floated before them.

"Goodbye Sokka" she said, her voice echoing and sounded very distant I'll always be with you" she promised with a calm tone and leaned forward, placing her see-through hand on Sokka's cheek and kissed him for the last time.

Sokka's eyes shone at this very moment, and he too placed his hand on Yue's cheek, returning the kiss and felt a bit warm inside knowing she wouldn't leave him forever. Yue had turned into the Moon Spirit and by that she would always be by his side at nighttime, as the pale, round diamond shining in the sky.

As Yue began to fade away and the couple's kiss broke off, Hua looked to the sky and caught the sight of the wonderful fullmoon. She couldn't help but smile and she silently greeted Yue to her new, and last, resting place.

_After Zhao's fall he and the Prince had moved their battle to one of the bridges, right above the Water Tribe's canal system. They both still fought furiously against each other, none of them accepting defeat._

_Zhao prepared a great attack from his feet, but like earlier Zuko managed to dodge by jumping into the air and yet again the admiral was vulnerable to attacks and Zuko sent a mighty blow of fire right towards him. As he did he recalled their last fight and how Zhao had done the same towards him, yet not succeeding, Zuko on the other hand succeeded!_

_The attack licked Zhao's face and the admiral quickly backed away, as he held his hands up to cover his face. Zuko sent a few more blasts at Zhao who had now lost his balance and landed on his back._

_He looked up at the Prince with a grim expression; he was just about to get up when his eyes turned to something right behind Zuko. The moon was back and lightened up the sky as well as the entire scenery._

"_It can't be" he shouted in horror, his plan had failed._

_But before any of them could do anything, a pile of water, the essence of the Ocean Spirit moved towards the bridge and split on each side of the bridge, forming a fence of veiny, supernatural blue water around the two firebenders._

_Luckily its movements were not very fast, so Zuko was able to roll away from the up-building prison which was about to swallow the admiral, who hadn't got to his feet yet._

_The spirit had just driven out all of the fire navy ships which had the Water Tribe surrounded and flushed the rest of the firebenders away. Apparently Zhao was the remaining one._

_Like a giant fist the water grabbed around Zhao, who struggled to break lose but the water had a very different faith for the admiral._

_It lifted him into the air, only his head and arms free from its grasp._

_Zuko stared up at the unusual sight with surprised eyes, then he ran up to the bridge's shore and held his hand up towards Zhao._

"_Take my hand!" he shouted, true he couldn't stand Zhao but letting him die wouldn't be respectful and he would be a coward for not taking any action. Zuko stretched his arm a bit further as the water kept moving Zhao away from the bridge._

_Zhao looked like he was considering Zuko's offer, yet he was still shocked that the young Prince would actually offer his help, especially when he had tried to kill him before and why would he accept help from a banished treacherous prince? Zhao swallowed and looked from Zuko to the spirited arm which held him in place._

_In the end Zhao's pride won and he pulled his arm away from Zuko, declining the Prince's hand and not wishing to be saved. The water, as if it had read Zhao's mind, began moving quicker and soon it had pulled him under the surface, swallowing him up._

_Zuko, now standing all alone on the bridge, looked down at the pool of moving water. Somehow he felt sad that he couldn't save Zhao, but he guessed the man felt a much too deep hatred for him, that he would find it dishonorable to let him be saved by Zuko._

_He sighed deeply and fell to his knees, finally realizing how tired and outbeaten he actually was._

Katara and Sokka had left the oasis, going out to find Aang, they had accepted that Hua stayed behind with Iroh for a while.

"How's Zuko?" she asked he elder man as they were alone.

"He's missing you terribly much" Iroh explained "but I take it that you won't be joining us soon?" he then asked, he had seen in Hua's eyes that she had matured a whole lot since they travelled together, but she wasn't ready to come back yet.

"I miss him too" Hua sighed and rubbed her arm a bit before looking up at Iroh again "But I need time for myself. I want to see the World for my own, now that I'm finally out here, but if he asks please tell him I never betrayed him, I'm not going with the Avatar" Hua explained.

She held her breath as she saw Iroh's serious expression "You know this is going to be very hard for the prince to consume, after he has gone through so much trouble to retrieve you" Iroh told her and firmly placed his hands on Hua's shoulders. It was a heavy weight and Hua felt like it was how heavy Zuko's heart would grow, when he found out she'd left without saying goodbye.

"I've already made my decision" she finally said and gave Iroh a mild look, trying not to cry "Please don't _make _me stay for his sake, it's just going to be harder for me too" she whispered.

Iroh's eyes softened as he heard her words, this was exactly like the department between Sokka and Princess Yue, and Iroh could see how much it tore on Hua to just leave her friend behind like that.

"Then promise me one thing" the general began "Take care of yourself and come back soon" he then pulled her into a tight hug, Hua soon began to cry and clenched her hands almost not wishing to let go of Iroh again.

"I will. I promise" she whispered, her voice trailing off.

"And promise me that if you find any valuable tea, buy it for me" the old man finally added, followed by a rusty 'ugh'.

"Don't spoil the moment, Iroh" Hua murmured in slight annoyance, as she battered the general between his shoulders, though in a friendly manner.

_The dawn came, followed by a new beginning for both the Water Tribe as well as the Avatar and his friends. All of his friends. The waterbenders were already busy repairing all the damage the Fire Nation had done to their city and some healers were out helping a few wounded soldiers._

_Aang stood on the wall, a few feet away from Katara who was talking to Master Pakku._

"_I've decided to go to the South Pole. Some other benders and healers want to join me" Pakku explained as he turned to face Katara._

"_It's time we helped rebuild our sister tribe" Katara knew he was talking about her home on the South Pole. She figured Pakku also wanted to meet her grandmother again, being a secret other reason for him to go._

"_What about Aang?__" she said, now starting to feel a bit concerned, she and Pakku turned to look at Aang, who just stared out at the horizon, Momo sitting next to him slightly squealing to comfort his friend__ "He still needs to learn waterbending" Katara reminded them both._

_Pakku then turned to face Katara once more, his expression for once gentle and Katara thought she could find a smile too. _

"_Well, then he better get used to calling you Master Katara" he announced, giving the role as Aang's teacher to Katara, as he couldn't teach Aang waterbending now that the kids also needed to visit the Earth Kingdom. Next bendingpower would be earthbending._

_Katara and Pakku shared smiles for a while, Katara actually feeling sad she had to leave her master behind._

_Meanwhile Sokka stood even further away together with Chief Arnook. He had only just received the news of his daughter turning into the moon, and Sokka figured he had a hard time taking it all in._

_They've been standing there for a while in silence as Arnook then broke it off with a deep sigh._

"_The Spirits gave me a vision when Yue was born" he started with a heavy heart. _

"_I saw a beautiful, brave young woman, become the Moon Spirit" he explained to Sokka, as the elder man closed his eyes recalling the memory_

"_I knew this day would come" he finished.__  
__"You must be proud" Sokka guessed, he had only just calmed down from the shock of never seeing Yue again, so his voice was calmer than ever before._

"_So__proud" Arnook answered but then added "And sad." The chief had wished he had been there to watch his daughter disappear for all eternity, but he felt stronger by the vision in his dream, he had seen it indirectly and now he would pray for the Moon Spirit, his daughter Yue, each and every night._

"You better leave now, if you don't want Prince Zuko to see you" Iroh suggested as he gently let go of Hua, kindly wiping her tears away from her eyes.

"You're right, I should" she nodded and exhaled once, trying to let her sorrow flow out with her breath, then she slightly smiled at Iroh.

"I heard about the prophecy involving you" he then said with a low voice "it appears it was true and it came to be" Iroh rubbed Hua's cheek with his thumb, touching her deep-blue tattoo.

Hua hadn't realized that until now and she looked at Iroh in surprise "it did."

"A beautiful young woman brought not only sorrow, but retrieved happiness to the Water Tribe, on her journey" Iroh said, his voice almost distant "I'm pretty sure you've been touched by the Moon Spirit too, now that I get to look closer at you."

Hua was stunned "What? Then why did Princess Yue have to die?" she insisted.

"Because it was _her _destiny, _your_ destiny points another way, Hua. You can accomplish anything you want and with those tattoos and a touch of the Moon Spirit, you can become the most powerful waterbender in history" Iroh smiled at her, but then pushed her towards the bridge.

Hua stumbled towards the bridge; she was still amazed at Iroh's words just now.

"Now get going!" he warned her, his smile slightly fading. He knew his nephew wouldn't let her go if he saw her now.

Hua nodded back at the general as a last goodbye before she ran as fast as her legs allowed her to.

"_I'm surprised, Prince Zuko" Iroh announced as he and the Prince now where sailing off on a raft, they've built themselves. It had only been minutes ago that Iroh secretly had talked to Hua for the last time, but they were already far away from the Water Tribe's borders by now. Iroh was in the middle of fixing a rope which lead to their sail, well it was actually just a Fire Nation flag, but they have had to work fast to find a way to leave the North Pole._

_Blocks of ice where still silently flowing by as Zuko stared into the horizon._

"_Surprised that you are not at this moment trying to capture the Avatar" Iroh had continued and he sure was surprised. All the while they've been on the sea Zuko's mind had only been on one thing; capturing the Avatar. But right now he looked as if he didn't even consider doing so. Iroh looked back at Zuko with a questioning grimace; Zuko hardly reacted on his words._

"_I'm tired" he said in a whispery voice. Zuko hadn't had any sleep in almost 3 days straight; he sat down by the raft's edge, his vision felt blurry and his head thumbed. He hardly bothered looking when Iroh placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder._

"_Then you should rest" Iroh suggested in a low voice, he slightly smiled as he recalled already telling Zuko this once "A man needs his rest."_

_Zuko didn't object but simply lay down on the raft, he stared up at the blue sky with a saddened look._

_Iroh hadn't told his nephew about the talk he had with Hua before they left, but simply said she had disappeared before his very eyes. Apparently Zuko believed him and was heartbroken that she didn't come with them._

'_I'll chase you down if necessary, Hua. Just you wait, I will find you again' he thought before closing his eyes, dozing off to sleep._

Hua looked around as she stood in the daylight of a new Northern Water Tribe, she smiled at the sight of people helping each other and complimenting them for doing a great work during the siege.

She saw Katara approach Aang and hugged him tightly. She figured Aang might still be shaken by all that had happened to him and the others recently, but she was happy when she saw the airbender smile at his friend.

She ran up to them just as Momo had joined in on their hugging. She stopped beside them and they shared smiles as real friends, Hua was glad they've accepted her once and for all, despite her friendship with Prince Zuko.

Then came Sokka and he gently placed his hand on Aang's shoulder and all four of them looked out at the horizon, expecting new journeys to come and new adventures to approach, just as Appa landed besides them too, roaring in a friendly manner. They would soon leave the Water Tribe to move on.

"_Iroh is a traitor and your brother Zuko is a failure" an evil and harsh voice spoke. A girl was kneeling in front of the Firelord in his throne-room; the wall of fire hid his face and only showed his sillouette._

"_I have a task for you" the Firelord announced as his daughter looked up at him, her expression wicked and she smirked evilly by his words.__ Her loyalty shone through her eyes as she gritted her teeth into a grin._

_Whatever her father had in mind, Azula would accomplish it without failing! _

END OF BOOK 1, WATER.

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**That does it, Book 1 is finally complete and it only took me 19 chapters 8D ...Well. I really liked writing the part where Yue becomes the Moon Spirit, to make Hua reflect on her relationship with Zuko and how they actually resemble each other. **

**Also I wanted to take focus away from Hua, I don't mean for her to be the main character and become all Mary Sue-ish (hey you guys would cry too during the moments she did, Katara/Yue cries way easier), so I want as much of the original story to be included in my fanfiction.**

**That's also the reason why I wanted to include Firelord Ozai and Azula in the end, and Katara, Sokka and Yue at the beginning :3**

**My favourite scene to write was probably during the blizzard, but it sure as heck was hard to write about too. I don't know how to describe a frozen lake that starts cracking, as you might've figured long ago now.. Err.. xX**

**But it was also my favourite because Zuko and Hua's relationship took a 180 degree turn and Zuko became a bit desperate after his swim in the icy water (another of my favourties btw), don't worry it won't be permanent though :b He will get back to his senses in Book 2 Earth xD**

**Well, I hoped you enjoyed guys and keep watch for more updates as I will begin Book 2 very soon :) I just need my Earth Chronicle of Zuko! x'3 **

**- See ya :D**


	20. Book 2: Earth

**Good thing I'm able to get my inspiration back once in a while, as soon as I began writing this chapter I hardly could stop myself again xD**

**Guess it's a good thing I did, otherwise this chapter would've been as long as the former n_n;**

**I'd like to apologize for the lack of any.. well, descent title, I had no idea what to call this chapter U.U**

**Well, we're starting with Book 2 now, following Zuko to the Earth Kingdom and Hua who heads out on her personal journey. I'll only spoil as much as to say she'll return to the Earth Kingdom at some point as well, lol ;P**

**Anyway I hope to make more updates soon, I had to stop in the middle of an episode so it shouldn't be too hard to get another chapter done soon enough! Besides I'm in the middle of my summer vacation and I don't have the least bit of plans, I'm all yours peeps 8D**

**Enjoy! R&R please!**

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Book 2: Earth

It had only been a few weeks since the battle of the Northern Water Tribe had been won by the Waterbenders and the Airbender. Aang and his friends had soon after the battle agreed to get moving quickly, they had even offered Hua to come with them but she had politely declined.

She didn't wish to stay at the Northern Water Tribe just yet either; she felt she had some business to do before she could actually settle down for real, let alone travel around freely. Aang had suggested they would all travel together away from the water tribe, which Hua at least had agreed to.

Master Pakku had accompanied them on a boat to see them off safely. Once they had been ready to depart Yugoda had come to say her goodbye to Hua and pleaded her to come back soon, this elder waterbender felt like the grandmother Hua always wished she had, especially after hearing stories about Katara's grandmother.

It somewhat made her feel anxious about never knowing her family, but then came to realize she had had an adoptive family once. The royal family of the Fire Nation had been her family when she was younger, but that family was long gone. She hadn't thought of it for a long time but she actually felt a bit homesick, though not knowing if it was for the Firelord's palace or her old home in the Earth Kingdom.

The journey had taken plenty of time, at least 2 whole nights, she remember awaking in the middle of the night on the boat, falling out of her furred hammock as the ship silently rocked from side to side on the water. She had awoken from a nightmare though she was not sure what it meant, the only thing she had seen were a couple of silhouettes surrounded by fire. But the fire had been too strong and vivid for her to make out their appearances.

One, a male figure, had stretched out his hand at her and was calling her name. The voice had sounded so distant, yet very familiar.

"Hua? Are you alright?" a hand was resting on Hua's shoulder, she had completely forgotten that it was already late morning and the others would have awoken too. She woke up very early that day, though this time it was not from a nightmare. Her homesickness felt worse than ever, it felt funny because it began just after she departed with Iroh and Zuko. She wondered if she felt bad about leaving the Prince behind without telling a word, then again she had treated him like an enemy, so no wonder she would have a stomachache from it, he had not deserved it for real.

Katara gently shook Hua's shoulder as if her friend had not heard her, Hua blinked a few times before facing the younger waterbender.

Hua quickly faced her friend and, realizing she had been wearing it the whole time, quickly pulled off her overcoat. It had become much hotter as they had travelled further south. Katara wasn't wearing her coat either, neither were any of the waterbenders who were controlling the ship.

"Sorry, I guess I just spaced out" Hua smiled lightly and rubbed the back of her head. The weather was as quiet as when they had left the water tribe, the sky was blue and the sun even reflected in the water. It was going to be a fine day, Hua believed.

"Pay attention" Katara giggled "For a while I thought you were going to fall over" Hua joined in with a slight giggle, she had been standing by the ship's edge for a long time, it was the first time she had awoken alongside the sun. The sight of the sunrise had been so beautiful; she couldn't imagine that powerful source was at fault that the firebenders could become so strong. It had looked so mild and she doubted a firebender like _that_ existed.

She quickly shook the thoughts out of her mind and just then Master Pakku emerged from the other side of the boat, Aang and Sokka were also present on the boat's surface now. Hua guessed they would be miles and miles away from the water tribe now, she wondered if Yugoda was still thinking of her. She had even cried when they departed.

Master Pakku then called the girls over, and alongside Sokka and Aang they lined up in front of the waterbending master. By reflex they all looked expectant at the old master, feeling they'd soon make their farewells with him too.

He cleared his throat and looked them over with a serious glance; in his hands he was holding a small sack in his hands. Hua held her breath as she stared at it, whatever was in that sack she was sure it was something he would give to them.

"Katara" Master Pakku addressed the waterbender first as he dug his palm into the sack, blindly trying to pick something up "I want you to have this" he finally said, holding up a small triangular veil, it had a teal-blue colour and a beautiful pattern which looked like waves to Hua. She stared at it in awe, almost not caring for the liquid but more for the design.

"The water has unique properties" he explained, his face staring to soften as he spoke "Don't lose it."

Master Pakku held it in a small string with great finesse as if it would break any moment; Katara copied his elegance and received it with respect.

"Thank you Master Pakku" she said gratefully though in a low voice as she quietly embraced her master and then walked off. Her strange behavior caused Hua to wonder slightly if something might be wrong with _her_, though she didn't have time to ask as she figured Master Pakku might want to give her something as well.

"Aang-" Pakku called and the Avatar motioned closer to the master, Hua forced a smile on her lips though she wondered why he hadn't called her name yet. Wouldn't a master call _all _of his students first? Or did it have something to do with her past that made Pakku dislike her all of a sudden?

'_Damn it! You're thinking too much!' _she cursed in her mind, apparently her homesickness really had gotten the best of her all of a sudden. She found herself sighing loudly, though the glance Pakku sent her made her pay attention again right away.

"-These scrolls will help you master waterbending" he handed the Avatar and small wooden box with the Water Tribe sign on the lid carved into the wood, when Aang pulled the lid aside several scrolls met his sight in the box, all containing waterbending secrets "But remember they're no substitute for a real master" Pakku warned, Aang looked aware at first but then turned his gaze up at Katara who had settled herself on Appa, the two of them shared a friendly moment together.

Hua admired them, almost forgetting her own anxiety, she was impressed two people could be so close just by a single glance and she secretly wished she also would get such a relationship. Aang bowed in respect at Pakku before walking up to Katara with his gift, leaving only Hua and Sokka behind.

Hua was sure it would be her turn now, but to her dismay Pakku called a different name.

"Sokka" he said, the young boy stepped forward a big, proud grin on his face. His expectations were probably as huge as Hua's, she thought.

"Take care son" Pakku simply said and patted the boy's shoulder before walking away, leaving Sokka with a dejected and very embarrassed look on his face. His cheeks had flushed, Hua felt like comforting him but then realized her master hadn't given her anything, let alone spoken a word to her.

But she quickly got other stuff to think about when she heard Aang command Appa to fly off, she whirled around instantly and looked up at her friends as they were about to depart.

"I'll find you sooner or later, I promise!" she shouted after them.

"You better do so or we'll be coming after you!" Katara shouted back in a friendly threat, trying to hold in a giggle.

"That's a deal! Take care!" Appa had soared so high in the sky that Hua had to use her hands to increase her shounting, shaping them like a big O around her mouth. She almost felt her eyes tear, seeing them disappear into the horizon, knowing she wouldn't see them in a long time. She just managed to see them all wave at her before flying off, waving back until they were out of sight Hua didn't notice her master sneaking up on her.

"Now that your friends have left, I would like to speak a word with you, young Hua" Master Pakku's voice almost caused her to jump out of the boat in surprise. The master did not take any notice but simply gestured with his hand to follow him.

Hua swallowed but started following him, now she somewhat wished she had travelled with Aang and the others, after all they were going to the Earth Kingdom and Hua had also business to do around there, though she had not revealed it to her friends.

"I may not have treated you with much dignity after knowing of your… past with us" Master Pakku finally spoke as he settled down on a small chair, his look was almost distant.

"It's OK really, I-" Hua started but her master cut her off "Do not think I don't treat all my students equally, I will also grant you a departing gift" he looked at her knowingly as if he had known all along that Hua felt left out.

"Since Yugoda have told me about you, knowledge which you personally shared with her, I would like to give you this" he held his closed palm forward, motioning for her to hold her hands out.

She felt something cool being placed in her hands as Pakku let go and pulled his hand back, revealing a small necklace.

"You may recognize it?" the master said with a slight nod as he noticed Hua's thoughtful look, truly she did feel as if she had seen it before.

The design itself resembled the necklace Katara always wore and she also remembered seeing something alike worn by Princess Yue only hours before she gave her life for the Moon Spirit.

"It once belonged to your mother, Anola, it was her betrothal necklace that she received when she got engaged to your father, Zoran" he gently explained.

Hua could hardly breathe as Pakku spoke out the names "Those were… my parents' names?" she asked in surprise, hearing her voice starting to crack over. Never in her life had she ever known her parents' names, until now. She felt tears push forward, behind her eyes.

"Anola was a beautiful young woman, very popular with the men in our tribe but also very lively and daring. She didn't want any man who could speak well of himself, she wanted a man who could prove himself well" the master slightly laughed and took a breath "In fact she was very much like you."

Hua was stunned, she had no idea whether to cry or smile, the tears still pushed forward but the corners of her mouth began to quiver and automatically force a smile on her lips. She was indeed happy to finally know something of her original family.

"Yugoda asked me to give it to you, she had found it the day before we left and wanted me to talk to you. That's why I waited for your friends to leave, realizing you might want to be alone for a while" Pakku stood from his seat though, not prepared for it at all, was immediately warmly embraced by Hua.

"Thank you Master Pakku" she sobbed softly, wiping her eyes quickly in her sleeve not wishing to cry in front of her very first and only waterbending master.

"There there, you'll consume it soon enough – in the meantime you may wish to wear that necklace, if you're going to visit the Earth Kingdom they wouldn't appreciate you wearing Fire Nation jewelry" Pakku patted her hand gently and then gestured at Hua's red necklace. The one Zuko had once given to her. She didn't really wish to take it off, but she could get the picture, some earthbenders held a deep grudge at the Fire Nation and who knows what they might do to Hua if they saw her wearing _that_ in their land?

She bit at her lower lip as she began to change necklace, she slightly rubbed her neck when the red necklace came off, it was actually a bit of a relief to feel the fresh air on her collar. Her mother's necklace were much thinner than the other one, it even fit her perfectly. Hua caught herself admiring her reflection in the ocean; she gently touched the round, carved stone-pendant and smiled at herself.

"Now we'll always be together, Mother" she whispered, as if not looking at her own reflection but her mother's. How Anola may have looked, Hua was sure she would resemble her mother in every way!

_After hours and hours on sea on their small homemade raft, Prince Zuko and his uncle were finally able to relax. The two of them had sailed all the way to a spa in the Earth Kingdom. It was originally Iroh's idea, Zuko suspected his uncle had taken advantage of his defeat and weariness when they had left the North Pole._

_Now Iroh was relaxing like never before, lying on a soft bench in the middle of a beautifully decorated garden getting a massage; blooming cherry trees were all around them in the small courtyard, a nice cooling breeze in the summer heat caused a few of the pink leaves to abscond from their respectful place on the trees._

"_Aaahhh, this is what I've been missing" Iroh murmured half to himself, half to the manly masseurs as well as his nephew._

_The spa itself was located in the middle of a river, just by the edge, on top of a large waterfall. The wooden building stood firmly in the water, the craftsmanship by both waterbenders and earthbenders. It was said that the sound of the rushing water would bring peace to the guests who would visit the spa and make them relax._

"_Who knew floating on a piece of driftwood for three weeks, with no food or water and sea vultures waiting to pluck out your liver, could make one so tense?__" Iroh continued, in a rather sarcastic tone, though it slightly disappeared in his throat as one of the masseurs got a tight knot in the retired General's shoulder straightened out._

_Zuko had refused to get any sort of treatment in the spa, though his uncle had urged him to do so, figuring his nephew might need it fairly. Instead the Prince was sitting by himself near the entrance to the garden, since they came to the Earth Kingdom they had managed to snatch some neutral clothing, which would cover their identities._

_Zuko himself was wearing a straw-hat, whether it was to shade his bald head or not to be recognized was hard to tell._

_Iroh figured something was the matter and raised from the massage-bench, as he walked up to his nephew he spoke:_

"_I see. It's the anniversary, isn't it?" his voice was silent, not wishing to upset the Prince, he didn't move a muscle as Iroh settled down next to him._

_Zuko lowered his head making the hat cover his eyes even more. Truly it was the anniversary, but for more things than one to Zuko._

"_Three years ago today I was banished. I lost it all__"__ Zuko muttered in a low disconsolate voice, he had his leg pulled up to his chest resting his arms on his knee._

"_I want it back" he suddenly announced looking up at the sky, a determined look now on his face. _

"_I want the Avatar, I want my honor, I want my throne. I want my father not to think I'm worthless__" in the end he looked away with a sad expression. _

_He didn't mention it, but in secret he also wanted his only true friend back. Yes, not only was it the anniversary of Prince Zuko's banishment but also, ironically, the anniversary of Hua's disappearance from the Fire Nation. Seeing as these two fell on the same day, Zuko was now way more determined than he had ever been before. _

_Iroh saw the fire burning in his nephew's eyes, trying to figure out what to say to comfort him._

"_I'm sure he doesn't!" he said with a hasty enthusiasm, a bit too enthusiastic even for the happy-go-lucky General. "Why would he banish you if he didn't care?__"_

_This was too much; Iroh had crossed the line which had caused Zuko to stand and walk away, more furious than before for sure. Those were definitely not the words the young Prince needed right now._

"_Errr, that came out wrong, didn't it?" Iroh muttered to himself letting out a deep sigh. He figured he should leave his nephew alone for a while, with that comment on his shoulders he'd definitely need it a few hours at least._

"I have one more thing for you, Hua" Master Pakku broke off the girl's thoughts; she hadn't realized how long she'd been standing there admiring her own reflection while wearing her mother's necklace. When Hua turned around she noticed a canoe placed on the floor near the edge of the boat.

"I suspect you will need some shipment to get to the Earth Kingdom, am I right?" he slightly smiled. Thinking of it Hua had never wondered how she would get off the waterbenders' boat again, surely they had never planned to sail her all the way to the Earth Kingdom themselves, so a canoe was a good option.

She soon made her own depart, two of the waterbenders helped Hua take a seat in the canoe as they gently lifted her off the boat and placed her into the water. She thanked them and left, though this time the canoe had no oars for her to use. Hua figured this was Pakku's idea of practice, making her row the boat all by herself, using only her waterbending.

That shouldn't be too hard, she figured, after all Hua had seen the men in the tribe do it every so often; she had even tried once alongside a few other men right before they had left the tribe. How hard could it be rowing a dinghy by herself?

It would prove to be very difficult in fact, Hua was used to tough practice and learning on the job, but this technique was harder than anything she had ever tried. Bending water into a large ball or creating a wave was one thing, forcing an object on the water, which wasn't herself or another person, was certainly another and much different thing. Especially when she was standing on the object herself.

Hua had only been on the sea for at least 3 hours, she had cursed like never before when she began waterbending the boat forth, at first she had moved it backwards causing her dinghy to stumble right into Master Pakku's boat, then from side to side and at last she had sprayed water on Pakku and the other men.

She had apologized several times for the accidents, after all she'd had plenty of time for apologies, it had taken her at least half an hour to get the canoe to move just a little.

Now pearls of sweat were dripping from Hua's head, she kept licking her lips which now tasted of salt and gritted her teeth from time to time in frustration.

"Master Pakku could at least have _taught _me this technique before leaving me on open water!" she exclaimed loudly, nobody was in sight and her voice echoed around her.

Hua sighed heavily and sat down in the boat with a bump, causing it to rock from side to side.

"What am I supposed to do now? At this rate I'll never get anywhere near land before I'm at least 100 years old" she rubbed her forehead and hugged her knees, prepared to give up for good.

She wondered how Zuko and Iroh were doing; she didn't expect them to have much more luck in reaching land than her.

"I wish Master Pakku had given _me_ the waterscroll" she muttered and kicked out in the boat. She heard a small thud; did she hit something in pure anger?

Raising her gaze she noticed something underneath the seat across from her, it looked like a small skin-bag. She looked at it with a puzzled expression, had it been there the whole time?

She found herself crawling towards it and pulled it out; aside from her own luggage she was sure this was no hers. It smelled strongly of saltwater and lard. She bit down in her lower lip wondering what the bag might hold.

To her big surprise the bag held just what she needed, Hua felt as if she was was about to burst into tears; there was a waterscroll, food supplies and even a few coins.

"Master Pakku, you-" Hua couldn't find a fitting word for how she felt about her master right now, it was a mixture of both relief and anger.

She wanted a break so badly, but she quickly decided she did not have time. Soon she saw gulls flocking around her, figuring they must've smelled her food. She was quick to gulp down a piece of bread and hide the bag away again, not letting the birds steal from her.

She stood in the boat, now a resolute expression on her face; she gritted her teeth and pulled up her sleeves. The warmth had soon gotten the best of her, but Hua refused to give in just yet. She could not feel her legs, but only saw this as an advantage at the moment; she swiftly rearranged her hair in a bun on top of her head so that she wouldn't feel too hot on her upper body.

The gulls, despite their food source gone, did not back off. If they couldn't get their beaks on some bread or fish, they might as well just mock Hua until they got some. Regardless of them being gulls, they were still rather clever when it came to humans and their food.

Hua took a solid stance in her dinghy, almost like that of an earthbender, she had the waterscroll broadened in front of her, looking the moves over swiftly before she would copy them.

She took a deep breath and held her arms up in the air in a graceful manner, scaring a few of the gulls but only temporarily. Hua felt tension in her body and began to move and arms back and forth, like she was swimming though in slower movements. Even though she was not in the water, the bending was very forceful and strong, it could easily be compared to standing by the foot of a waterfall while letting the violent water wash over her.

But soon she made progress, she heaved for breath feeling her lungs ache and sometimes had to change position. When the pace finally had gotten more steady she relaxed a bit, but when she did Hua soon realized how much water she had actually bend.

Not only the amount of water just around her canoe, but even what looked like miles of water had become wobbly, no wonder it had been so difficult. She suspected this sort of bending to be harder on open water than in small canals like on the North Pole.

The gulls kept following her, flying in a V-formation above the dinghy, the birds were probably in awe at the girl's willpower considering how worn out she must've looked to them.

"I'm doing it!" she screamed in an ecstasy of happiness, putting her hands up in the air in victory.

However still waterbending a good amount of water, didn't realize she was forging a large wave just behind her. She only managed to see the gulls scream at each other and soon departed, wondering what had caused they fear she turned around and stared in awe at the surge of water.

And the second she lowered her arms, she wave flushed over her and toppled her boat, causing her to fall in the water. No doubt Hua had overdone it a bit.

* * *

**I did mean to write more about Zuko in this chapter I swear, but Hua's quarrels with the dinghy simply took up too much space and I was pretty INTO it at that moment xD**

**But as you may guess which episode we're in, you ought to know there'll be much more of Prince Zuko in the upcomming chapter ;)**

**I hope you like how Book 2 has started out, I'm open for ideas though be aware that I've already gotten the entire script written out on paper, but as kind as I am I might include some of your ideas! (It's a maybe!)**

**I'll see you guys again soon, I hope :D**


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